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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 


The    James    Sprunt    Historical    Publications 

PUBLISHED  UNDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF 

The    North    Carolina    Historical    Society 

J.  G.  de  Roulhac  Hamilton  I  „, 
Henry  McGilbert  Wagstaff  ) 

VOL.  9  No.  2 


CONTENTS 

Federalism  in  North  Carolina 
Letters  of  Willtam  Barry  Grove 


CHAPEL    HILL 

PUBLISHED    BY  THE   UNIVERSITY 

1910 


FEDERALISM  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


BY 


Henry  McGilbert  Wagstaff 


f 


FEDERALISM  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


I.  Before  the  Adoption  of  the  Constitution 

When  .the  delegates  of  the  patriot  party  of  North  Carolina  met 
at  Halifax  in  1776  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  new-born  state, 
two  clearly  defined  factions  appeared.  A  perfect  unity  of  senti- 
ment existed  between  these  factions  in  all  things  that  appertained 
to  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  against  England ;  while  wide 
differences  of  view  obtained  as  to  the  character  to  be  given  to  the 
constitutional  document  about  to  be  formed.  One  faction  inclined 
toward  a  government  of  democratic  type  with  every  department 
faithfully  reflecting  the  popular  will.  The  other  wished  the  con- 
stitution to  provide  a  government  less  directly  subject  to  popular 
influence.  The  former  forecasted  a  new  and  mighty  force  in  the 
world's  history:  American  Democracy.  The  latter  exemplified 
the  force  of  conservatism  even  in  transplanted  Englishmen,  colon- 
ials who  retained  a  profound  faith  in  and  regard  for  the  English 
constitution  as  it  then  existed.1  The  American  idea,  however, 
predominated  in  the  Halifax  convention  and  the  mild  type  of 
democracy  which  it  then  embodied  characterized  the  constitution 
which  was  evolved. 

The  weaker  faction  acquiesced  gracefully  in  the  result,  the  war 
soon  absorbing  the  energies  of  all.  But  with  the  coming  of  peace 
and  assured  independence  from  the  mother  country  the  old  line  of 
cleavage  between  radicals  and  conservatives  reappeared  as  new 
issues  arose  and  new  conditions  were  to  be  met.  The  radical  fac- 
tion was  in  control  of  the  state  government  and  responsible  for  its 
course  when  the  war  ended,  while  the  conservatives  had  already 

1  Many  of  the  leading  lawyers,  and  other  educated  men  in  North  Caro- 
lina, even  after  the  Revolution,  kept  in  correspondence  with  their  kinsmen 
in  England  and  retained  a  lively  interest  in  English  public  affairs.  See 
McRee's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  James  Iredell. 


6  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

assumed  the  role  of  critic  and  were  rapidly  developing  a  strong 
party  consciousness.  The  dominant  party  had  not  yet  rid  itself 
of  a  trust  in  the  efficacy  of  paper  money  issues  as  a  panacea  for 
state  poverty.2  Likewise  it  was  responsible  for  the  failure  to  re- 
peal the  laws  under  which  sweeping  confiscations  of  Tory  property 
had  been  made  during  the  war.  The  total  of  this  property  wag 
large  and  its  value  had  materially  assisted  the  state's  resources  in 
sustaining  the  burden  of  the  war.  To  make  restitution  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms3  of  peace  between  England  and  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation  was  a  thing  impossible  to  the  impoverished 
state  government.  The  radical  majority  refused  to  consider  it  as 
in  any  degree  a  moral  obligation  and  hence  the  treaty  was  not 
declared  a  part  of  state  law  until  1787,  the  status  of  confiscated 
property  at  the  same  time  remaining  unaffected.4  A  third  charac- 
teristic of  the  radicals  as  a  ruling  party  was  extreme  disinterest  in 
the  common  government,  the  Confederacy,  together  with  an  in- 
tense consciousness  of  the  state's  individual  sovereignty.  The 
somewhat  blatant  democracy,  characterized  at  the  end  of  the  war 
by  the  three  above  named  tendencies,  embraced  in  its  member- 
ship the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  their  officers,  the  bulk  of  state 
officials,  and  the  mass  of  what  Archibald  Maclaine,  a  conservative, 
was  fond  of  calling  "the  common  people."  On  the  other  hand 
the  conservatives  at  this  date  made  up  so  small  a  minority  that 
they  may  best  be  described  as  a  coterie  of  educated  men,  mainly 
lawyers,  well  fitted  for  leadership  and  likely  to  acquire  influence 
and  power  as  soon  as  the  passions  of  the  recent  conflict  began  to 
pass  away.  They  held  sane  opinions  as  to  the  evils  of  paper 
money;  advocated  a  lenient  policy  toward  the  defeated  Loyalists; 
and  considered  the  fortunes  and  welfare  of  North  Carolina  as 
indissolubly  linked  with  that  of  her  sister  states.      Nevertheless 

2  Two  issues  of  Bills  of  Credit  were  made  after  hostilities  had  ceased,  one 
in  1783  of  £100,000  (24  State  Records,  478),  and  another  in  1785  for  the 
same  amount  (24  S.  R.  722). 

3  The  treaty  had  provided  that  Congress  recommend  to  the  states  the  pol- 
icy of  restitution.  This  Congress  did,  though  the  states,  generally,  paid  no 
heed,  thus  repudiating  it  as  a  moral  obligation. 

4  North  Carolina  State  Records,  XX.,  321-325. 


James  Sprwnt  Historical  Publications  7 

there  was  notably  lacking  throughout  the  state  any  spirit  of  unrest 
or  discontent  with  present  conditions  that  promised  to  afford  the 
conservatives  at  any  early  date  an  opportunity  for  leadership. 

A  train  of  influences,  however,  were  already  at  work  that  were 
soon  to  stir  the  rather  stagnant  political  waters  of  North  Carolina 
into  violent  commotion.  Virginia  and  Maryland  initiated  a 
movement  in  1786  that  led  to  the  call  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention at  Philadelphia  in  the  following  year. 

The  plan  for  strengthening  the  Union  by  amending  the  Articles 
of  Confederation  found  ready  acceptance  among  the  conservatives 
of  North  Carolina.  It  would,  if  successful,  bring  about  national 
and  international  respectability,  a  result  that  independence  alone 
did  not  necessarily  assure.  Moreover  it  would  very  probably  cor- 
rect various  internal  evils  from  which  the  country  at  large,  or  the 
states  individually,  suffered.  Lastly,  to  the  conservatives  the 
movement  seemed  to  promise  an  opportunity  for  public  service 
and,  consequently,  public  honors  to  those  who  advanced  it.  In- 
terested alike  instate  and  Confederation  affairs  they  threw  them- 
selves with  intelligent  skill  into  the  work  of  creating  sentiment  for 
amendment  of  the  Articles. 

Delegates5  had  been  appointed  to  represent  the  state  in  the 
Annapolis  Convention,  and  the  legislature  now  promptly  named  a 
commission  of  five  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention.  Neither  of 
these  actions  proceeded  from  any  popular  demand,  but  apparent- 
ly out  of  deference  alone  to  the  invitation.  There  was  no  lively 
interest  manifested*  except  among  the  handful  of  conservatives,  as 
to  what  might  be  the  outcome.  The  preamble  of  the  act6  appoint- 
ing delegates  to  Philadelphia  embodied  the  sentiments  of  the  con- 
servatives in  the  legislature  and  seems  to  have  been  a  product  of 

5  Five  in  number.  None  attended.  Only  one,  Hugh  Williamson,  made 
any  effort  to  do  so. 

6  Public  Acts  of  North  Carolina,  1786,  42. 

7  The  term  "conservative",  properly  characterizes  this  party  in  state  af- 
fairs only.  So  likewise  only  in  the  same  limited  sense  does  "radical"  ac- 
curately apply  to  the  ruling  democracy  under  Jones'  leadership.  From  the 
viewpoint  of  their  respective  attitudes  upon  the  question  of  altering  the 
state's  relation  to  the  Confederation  the  terms  would  be  more  descriptive  if 
interchanged. 


8  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

their  exertions.  Nevertheless  three  of  the  commission  as  elected 
were  radicals,  among  them  being  Willie  Jones,  the  unrivalled  chief 
of  his  party.  Jones  was  a  state  individualist  of  the  extreme  type 
who,  long  in  control  of  the  dominant  party,  had  given  it  his  own 
stamp  and  taught  it  to  regard  North  Carolina  as  its  chief  and  prac- 
tically only  concern.  Though  he  did  not  oppose  sending  dele- 
gates to  Philadelphia  political  consistency  bade  him  refuse  the 
appointment.  Richard  Caswell,  the  governor,  and  somewhat  Leas 
lacking  in  sympathy  for  the  movement  than  Jones,  likewise  de- 
clined. Being  empowered  by  law  to  fill  the  vacancies,  the  gov- 
ernor considerately  named  two  friends  of  the  movement.  Hence  the 
delegation  as  finally  made  up  consisted  of  one  radical,  Alexander 
Martin,  and  four  conservatives,  William  R.  Davie,  Richard  Dobbfl 
Spaight,  Hugh  Williamson  and  William  Blount. 

But  even  the  most  enlightened  and  hopeful  of  the  conservatives7 
in  North  Carolina  had  no  premonition  that  the  American  Confed- 
eration was  on  the  eve  of  so  marvelous  a  political  transformation, 
a  transformation  the  more  wonderful  in  that  it  was  not  generally 
demanded  by  the  thirteen  independent  sovereignties  affected.  The 
Philadelphia  Convention  undertook  and  effected  a  radical  remod- 
eling of  the  general  government.  The  constitution  evolved  and 
laid  before  the  states  for  ratification  was  without  a  parallel  in  his- 
tory. North  Carolina  in  common  with  the  other  states  suddenly 
realized  that  she  was  confronted  by  a  momentous  question,  the 
acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  new  frame  of  government. 

The  North  Carolina  conservatives  became  at  once  an  active 
working  corps  in  the  interest  of  the  new  constitution,  while  the 
radicals  looked  on  interested  but  questioning.  Even  before  the 
Convention  at  Philadelphia  had  finished  its  labors  the  most  far- 
sighted  of  the  former  began  to  plan  the  election  of  a  conservative 
state  governor  as  the  initial  step  toward  ratification.8  They  now 
began  to  call  themselves  federal  men,  and  soon  thereafter,  Feder- 
alists. By  assiduous  correspondence  and  personal  exertions  prac- 
tical organization  was  effected,  the  old  conservatives,  or  "out-''. 


8  McRee,  Griffith  J.,  Life  and  Correspondence  of  James  Iredell,  II.,  167. 
Hugh  Williamson  to  Iredell,  July  22,  1787. 


James  Sjyrunt  Historical  Publications  9 

to  a  man  rallying  with  renewed  hope  to  the  new  and  fortunate 
issue. 

Samuel  Johnston  was  perhaps  the  best  known  of  all  the  North 
Carolina  federalists.  As  president  of  the  revolutionary  Provincial 
Council  he  was  in  effect  the  executive  head  of  government  between 
the  abdication  in  April,  1775,  of  Josiah  Martin,  the  last  of  the  royal 
governors,  and  the  accession  of  Richard  Caswell  under  the  consti- 
tution in  December,  1776.  He  served  the  revolutionary  state 
well  in  this  civil  capacity  and  would  undoubtedly  have  become 
the  first  governor  under  the  constitution  had  not  Richard  Cas- 
well's military  achievements  suddenly  brought  the  latter  into 
prominence.9  Though  trusted  by  the  whole  state  for  his  probity 
and  patriotism  Johnston  was  well  known  to  be  far  from  democrat- 
ic in  political  theory  even  though  the  tide  of  democracy  set  in 
strong  with  the  inception  of  the  Revolution  and  was  still  at  high 
flood  in  1787.  This,  together  with  his  sharp  criticism  and  con- 
tempt of  the  policies  of  the  ruling  radical  majority  explains  his 
exclusion  from  political  employment  between  1776  and  1788. 
Equally  conversant  with  state  and  Confederation  affairs  and  pos- 
sessing a  clear  insight  into  international  politics  the  headship  of 
the  Federalist  party  in  North  Carolina  fell  naturally  to  Johnston. 
Or,  rather,  among  an  able  group  of  well  informed  equals  of  like 
sympathies  a  position  of  primacy  was  accorded  him  by  common 
consent.  Other  members  of  this  group  already  possessing  state- 
wide prominence,  a  number  of  whom  were  soon  to  become  more 
widely  known,  were  James  Iredell  of  Edenton,  William  Richard- 
son Davie  of  Halifax,  Archibald  Maclaine  of  Wilmington,  Will 
Hooper  of  Hillsboro,  William  Blount  of  Craven,  Richard  Dobbs 
Spaight  of  Craven,  John  Steele  of  Rowan,  and  Hugh  Williamson 
of  Edenton.  All  these  except  the  two  last  named  were,  like  Johns- 
ton, members  of  the  state  bar. 

North  Carolina  held  her  annual  election  for  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  August,  1787,  while  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention was  still  in  session.     It  was  already  known,  however,  that 

9  Caswell  was  in  command  of  the  state  forces  at  the  battle  of  Moore's 
Creek,  February,  1776,  in  which  a  severe  defeat  was  inflicted  upon  the  Scotch 
Highlanders  in  the  Cape  Fear  country  who  rose  in  favor  of  King  George. 


10  James  Sprwnt  Historical  Publications 

a  plan  of  government  had  been  agreed  upon  and  that  in  relation 
to  it  the  forthcoming  Assembly  would  be  called  upon  to  act.10 
Therefore  the  federal  leaders  determined  to  wage  an  active  cam- 
paign for  membership  in  and  possible  control  of  that  body  in  order 
to  insure  its  compliance  with  the  expected  recommendations  of 
the  Convention.  Thus  the  Constitution  became  an  issue  in  North 
Carolina  before  men  knew  what  it  was  like.  Intense  interest  was 
awakened.  The  fighting  became  fast  and  furious,  much  bitter- 
ness being  engendered  in  many  localities."  The  federal  leaders, 
most  of  whom  were  candidates,  took  as  their  common  theme  the 
weaknesses  of  the  old  Confederation  and  its  corollary,  the  need  of 
a  firmer  principle  of  union.  The  campaign  was  of  considerable 
educative  value  and  accentuated  interest  in  larger  affairs  than  the 
average  North  Carolinian  was  wont  to  concern  himself  after  inde- 
pendence had  been  achieved.  Nevertheless  a  fair  analysis  of  the 
issues  involved  in  this  campaign  shows  that  the  federal  men,  as 
"outs,"  forced  the  fighting  on  the  new  ground  as  a  means  to 
supremacy  in  the  state;  while  the  radicals  were  struggling  not  to 
condemn  the  Constitution  in  advance  but  to  maintain  their  con- 
trol. Therefore,  despite  the  claim  of  federal  men,  a  radical  vic- 
tory did  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  new  frame  of  government , 
when  submitted,  would  not  be  accorded  due  consideration. 

Though  the  federalists  had  made  a  notable  effort  and  attracted 
numerous  recruits  to  their  ranks,  they  failed  to  wrest  control  of 
the  legislature  from  the  radicals,  the  latter  being  able  to  show  a 
majority  in  each  house  and  to  choose  both  speakers."  Archibald 
Maclaine  had  to  solace  himself  with  the  hope  that  the  Assembly 
contained  some  men  of  understanding  who  would  endeavor  to  do 
what  was  necessary.  "Happily,"  he  continues,  "our  Assembly, 
except  where  particular  interests  interfere,  have  generally  appear- 
ed well  disposed  to  coincide  with  the  proposals  of  Congress.  *' 
This  qualified  confidence  in  the  radicals  by  the  straitest  of  the  old 
conservatives  was  not  misplaced .     Partisanship  for  the  nonce  was 

10  McRee  II.,  168,  Spaight  to  Iredell,  Aug.  12,  1787. 

11  Ibid.  II.,  178,  Maclaine  to  Iredell,  Aug.  29,  1787. 

12  Senate  and  House  Journals,  N.  C.  State  Records,  XX.,  121,  303. 

13  McRee  II.,  178,  Maclaine  to  Iredell. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  1 1 

held  in  abeyance,  the  two  houses  on  joint  ballot  choosing  Samuel 
Johnston  governor  despite  his  opposition  to  the  bulk  of  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  the  radical  majority  stood.  This  was  the  result 
of  a  general  recognition  that  the  honor  was  due  Johnston  for  the 
eminent  services  he  had  rendered  the  state.  Moreover,  in  its 
anticipation,  he  had  been  tactful  enough  to  refrain  from  partici- 
pation in  the  late  partisan  conflict.  When  a  minority  member 
introduced  a  measure  to  provide  for  a  state  convention  to  consider 
the  new  federal  Constitution  the  majority  again  proved  liberal, 
only  two  radicals  of  any  prominence  opposing  it.'4  That  the  peo- 
ple might  have  first-hand  information  about  the  proposed  plan  of 
government  the  Assembly  ordered  copies  of  the  Constitution  print- 
ed and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  members  for  distribution  among 
their  constituents.  The  Convention  was  to  meet  at  Hillsboro  in 
July,  1788,  and  to  consist  of  five  freeholding  delegates  from  each 
county  and  one  from  each  borough  town  chosen  under  the  same 
regulations  as  were  members  of  the  lower  house  of  Assembly. 

The  federalist  leaders  now  began  an  active  campaign  to  arouse 
popular  interest  in  the  new  scheme  of  government.  The  first 
popular  endorsement15  of  the  Constitution  in  North  Carolina  re- 
sulted from  a  meeting  held  at  Eden  ton,  November  8,  1787.  The 
grand  jury  at  the  same  place  likewise  presented  to  the  court  a 
vigorous  address  upon  the  subject  Nov.  12.  This  document  was 
printed  as  campaign  literature  and  widely  circulated.  The  rea- 
sons it  assigned  for  the  need  of  the  new  constitution  were:  the 
distracted  state  of  the  Union;  public  debts  unpaid;  treaty  of  peace 
unfulfilled;  commerce  on  the  verge  of  rain;  private  industry  at  a 
standstill;  quotas  unpaid  and  impossible  to  pay;  Congress  pos- 
sessing but  a  shadow  of  authority,  etc.  These  ideas,  with  numer- 
ous appropriate  additions,  were  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the 
public  by  all  the  campaign    methods  then  in  vogue.      They  were 

14  Journal  of  the  Senate,  N.  C.  State  Records,  XX.,  369,  372.  The  oppos- 
ing members  were  Thomas  Person  and  James  Coor. 

15  This  meeting  was  due  to  the  influence  aud  exertions  of  James  Iredell, 
who  resided  at  that  place.  It  was  before  the  Assembly  had  called  the  con- 
vention, and  soon  after  the  Constitution  was  promulgated.  See  McRee 
II.,  180. 


12  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

emphasized  by  resolutions  in  meetings  of  the  friends  of  the  consti- 
tution; by  presentments  from  favorable  grand  juries;  by  the 
group  of  federalist  lawyers  upon  their  court  circuits;  and  by  a 
newly  developed  pamphlet  literature.16  Early  in  January,  1788, 
James  Iredell  under  the  pen  name  "Marcus,"  published  his 
Answers  to  Mr.  Mason's  Objections  to  the  New  Constitution,*7  a  pro- 
duction that  easily  takes  rank  with  the  ablest  of  the  "Federalist 
Papers"  of  Madison,  Jay,  and  Hamilton,  only  a  few  numbers  of 
which  had  as  yet  appeared.  Later  (May)  Davie  and  Iredell  col- 
laborated in  the  production  of  a  second  pamphlet  in  defense  of 
the  Constitution  and  incurred  considerable  expense  in  circulat- 
ing it. 

The  election  of  convention  delegates  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
the  ablest  leaders  of  both  parties,  this  being  made  possible  by  the 
fact  that  any  freeholder  might  be  chosen  by  any  county  or  bor- 
ough town  whether  he  was  a  resident  of  the  same  or  of  sonic  other. 
Too,  there  was  an  appreciation  of  ability  very  generally  prevalent 
in  North  Carolina  at  this  date  that  made  it  possible,  and  not  in- 
frequent, for  a  constituency  to  confer  public  honors  out  of  respect 
to  individual  character  and  virtue  even  though  the  recipient's 
political  views  may  not  have  accorded  with  those  of  the  electors 
so  honoring  him.  What  with  her  borough  representation;  her 
practice  of  free  choice  of  any  citizen  of  the  state  by  any  local  con- 
stituency; and  her  trust  in  men  of  proven  merit  upon  occasion, 
regardless  of  their  views,  North  Carolina  was,  in  her  political  prac- 
tices, as  English  as  Kent  or  Middlesex. 

When  the  Hillsboro  Convention  met,  July  21,  1788,  it  was 
already  known  that  the  number  of  federalist  delegates  would  make 
up  only  a  respectable  minority.18     Willie  Jones'    masterly  leader- 


16  Newspapers  in  North  Carolina  at  this  early  date  were  few  and  weak, 
the  State  Gazette  of  Newborn  being  the  most  important.  There  was  as  yet 
no  great  reading  public.  Nor  had  political  canvassing  and  the  stump  orator 
of  a  later  day  appeared. 

17  Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia.  Iredell's  paper  first  appeared  in  fragmentary 
form  in  the  State  Gazette  and  later  in  pamphlet.  See  reprint  in  McRee  II., 
186-215. 

18  McRee  II.,  222.     Hooper  to  Iredell,  April  15,  1788. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  13 

ship  had  kept  the  front  of  the  old  radical  party  quite  unbroken,  a 
result  due  in  large  part  to  one  man  leadership,'9  supported  by  albe 
lieutenants,  in  an  organization  already  in  definite  control  of  the 
state.  Nevertheless  when  the  delegates  met  in  their  first  session 
the  federalists  were  still  hopeful  of  a  favorable  issue.  They  relied 
upon  the  weight  of  the  influence  upon  the  convention  of  the  ten 
states  that  had  already  ratified.  Among  the  ten  was  Virginia, 
whose  influence  was  especially  potent  in  the  Roanoke  and  Albe- 
marle regions  of  North  Carolina,  regions  which  at  that  time  were 
the  most  thickly  populated,  the  wealthiest,  and  most  influential 
portion  of  the  state.  On  June  11,  1788,  Hugh  Williamson,  dele- 
gate in  the  now  moribund  Congress,  wrote20  from  New  York: 
"All  expectation  is  turned  toward  Virginia.  We  take  it  for  grant- 
ed, I  do  at  least,  that  North  Carolina  will  follow  Virginia  in 
adopting  or  rejecting."  On  July  9,  Virginia  having  ratified 
meanwhile,  Davie  writes  from  Halifax:21  "The  decision  of  Vir- 
ginia has  altered  the  tone  of  the  Antis  here  very  much.  Mr. 
Jones  says  his  object  will  now  be  to  get  the  constitution  rejected  in 
order  to  give  weight  to  the  proposed  amendments,  and  talks  in 
high  commendation  of  these  made  by  Virginia." 

Jones  refused  to  relinquish  this  purpose  when  the  convention 
had  organized,  and  held  his  followers  in  orderly  array  behind 
him.  Governor  Johnston,  out  of  deference  to  his  office  and  pub- 
lic service,  was  chosen  by  unanimous  vote  to  preside.  Iredell, 
Davie,  Spaight,  Maclaine,  and  Steele  were  present  as  delegates 
and  prepared  to  champion  ratification.  A  session  of  eleven  days 
followed  in  which  the  Constitution  was  debated  in  its  various  as- 
pects. The  debates  clearly  brought  out  the  fact  that  the  federal- 
ist leaders  held  the  new  Constitution  to  be  in  nature  a  compact 

19  Jones  was  an  example  of  the  early  development  of  the  party  boss, 
though  entirely  without  the  venality  of  the  modern  type  of  this  species  in 
American  politics. 

20  To  Iredell.     McReelL,  226. 

21  McRee,  II.,  230.  Halifax  was  in  the  Southside  Roanoke  region  and  the 
home  of  both  Willie  Jones  and  Davie.  The  latter  married  Sarah,  daughter 
of  General  Allen  Jones,  a  brother  of  Willie  Jones.  Allen  Jones,  however, 
like  Davie  was  a  conservative  in  politics  and  always  opposed  his  brother 
politically. 


1  I  James  Sprvnt  HiMoriml  Publications 

between  the  states,  and  the  federal  government,  created  by  it,  their 
agent.  Nor  does  this  theory  seem  to  have  been  assumed  by  the 
federalists  merely  to  lull  the  suspicions  of  the  majority.  Davie 
and  Spaight  had  been  members  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention, 
and  presumably,  knew  the  spirit  in  which  the  Constitution  was 
constructed.  Both  upon  the  floor  of  the  Hillsboro  Convention  in- 
terpreted the  document  as  providing  more  efficient  union  yet  in 
no  way  effecting  the  sovereign  character  of  the  states.22  No  appre- 
ciable change  of  sentiment  appeared  as  a  result  of  the  debate. 
Non-adoption  was  pre-determined  by  the  mnjority.  Jones  embod- 
ied this  decision  in  a  resolution23  which  likewise  asserted  the  neces- 
sity of  a  bill  of  rights  and  suggested  the  call  of  a  second  conven- 
tion at  a  later  date.  To  the  resolution  was  appended  a  declara- 
tion of  rights  similar  to  that  in  the  state  constitution  together  with 
a  list  of  twenty-six  amendments  very  similar  to  those  suggested 
by  Virginia.  The  resolution  and  appendages  were  carried  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  to  eighty-four.  A  motion  by 
a  federalist  to  substitute  a  ratifying  resolution  was  defeated  by  the 
same  vote  reversed.     On  August  4  the  body  adjourned  sine  die. 

The  eleventh  state,  New  York,  ratified  soon  after  the  adjourn- 
ment at  Hillsboro,  thus  leaving  North  Carolina  with  the  sole  com- 
panionship of  Rhode  Island  without  the  Union.  Public  opinion 
in  the  state  now  began  to  veer  around  rapidly.  The  federalists, 
with  hope  renewed,  redoubled  their  efforts,  believing  that  the 
pressure  of  circumstances  would  now  give  them  control.  The 
annual  August  election  of  assemblymen,  occurring  so  soon  after 
the  decision  of  the  Convention,  gave  them  scant  time  to  reform 
their  ranks.  Nevertheless  they  made  large  gains,  it  remaining 
uncertain,  until  the  Assembly  met  in  November,  as  to  who  should 
control  the  body.  Hence  in  the  interim  the  friends  of  the  Consti- 
tution everywhere  prepared  petititions24  to  the  Assembly  asking 
the  call  of  a  second  convention  to  consider  the  subject  anew. 
Upon  Governor  Johnston's  suggestion  the  petitioners  preserved  a 

22  Elliot's  Debates,  IV.,  148,  155,  etseq. 

23  Elliot's  Debates,  IV.,  242. 

24  These  petitions  are  preserved  in  manuscripts  in  the  North  Carolina  Ar- 
chives, office  of  Secretary  of  State,  Raleigh. 


James  Sprwnt  Historical  Publications  15 

fair  degree  of  uniformity,  emphasizing  mainly  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  a  firm  union  with  the  other  states  and  the  desirabil- 
ity of  being  in  the  Union  when  the  anticipated  amendments 
should  be  formed. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  Assembly  met,  November  3,  a 
secret  caucus  of  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  was  held  by  which 
it  was  learned  that  they  possessed  a  small  majority  in  both 
branches.25  Yet  so  effective  was  the  radical  party  organization 
and  so  powerful  its  grip  upon  the  state  that  both  houses  organized 
under  its  control  without  regard  to  the  convention  issue.  In  fact 
on  the  loth  a  definite  proof  was  given  the  conservatives  that  the 
radical  party  still  controlled  even  on  the  convention  issue,  despite 
the  convictions  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  body.  On  that  date, 
evidently  by  a  dexterous  use  of  the  party  whip,  Thomas  Person,26 
radical  leader  in  the  lower  house,  secured  a  vote  of  fifty-five  to 
forty-seven  against  a  new  convention.27  But  this  vote  was  meant 
to  be  disciplinary  rather  than  definitive, — a  proof  that  another 
convention  would  be  by  radical  grace  rather  than  by  conservative 
compulsion.  Many  radicals,  though  still  amenable  to  party  disci- 
pline and  at  one  with  their  leaders  on  state  issues,  wished  to  call 
a  new  convention  and  have  it  ratify  the  constitution.  They  were 
federalists  for  the  single  purpose  of  federation ;  in  all  things  else 
they  still  looked  to  Jones  and  Person  for  guidance.  The  former 
in  the  senate  and  the  latter  in  the  house  were  masters  on  every 
issue,  finally,  save  that  of  the  convention.  They  even  had  the  two 
houses  reiterate28  the  necessity  of  another  federal  convention29  and 
appoint  five  delegates  to  attend  when  it  should  be  called .  One  of 
these  was  Person  himself,  and  the  others  likewise  belonged  to  the 

25  McRee  II.,  245,  Madaine  to  Iredell,  Nov.  17,  1788. 

26  General  Thomas  IVrson,  of  Granville,  a  Revolutionary  patriot  and  offi- 
cer. He  was  Jones'  ablest  lieutenant  and  an  uncompromising  advocate  of 
state  individualism. 

27  House  Journal,  N.  C.  State  Records,  XXL,  52. 

28 Senate  Journal,  1788,  N.  C.  State  Rec.,  XX.,  527  and  544.  This  was  a 
concurrent  resolution. 

29  The  Hillsboro  Convention  of  the  ypar  before  had  passed  a  final  resolu- 
tion demanding  a  second  federal  convention  to  provide  the  required  amend- 
ments. 


16  James  Sjvrunt  Historical  Publications 

anti-federal  section  of  the  radicals.  They  defeated  a  bill,  brought 
in  by  the  federal  conservatives,30  to  force  debtors  to  pay  according 
to  contract,  and  thus  abrogate  the  old  "stay  laws"  passed  in  the 
period  of  the  Revolution  and  still  in  force.  Likewise  they  threw 
out  a  bill  introduced  and  supported  by  the  federal  conservatives 
for  removing  the  political  disabilities31  of  Tory  sympathizers  in 
the  Revolution.  But  despite  these  evidences  of  party  solidarity 
the  flood  of  petitions  for  a  new  state  convention  and  the  wavering 
of  a  considerable  portion  of  their  followers  warned  Jones  and  Per- 
son that  this  point  would  have  to  be  conceded.  Hence  on  the  21st 
of  November  the  two  houses  came  into  agreement  upon  a  resolu- 
tion38 to  call  a  convention  the  date  of  which  was  set  for  November 
16,  1789,  a  year  after  its  call.  Thus  the  federal  government 
would  be  organized,  and  operative  for  the  ratifying  states,  at  least 
six  months  before  North  Carolina  could  render  a  new  decision  as 
to  her  relations  with  it.  This  was  the  last  concession  the  radical 
leaders  would  make  and  with  this  the  North  Carolina  federalists 
had  perforce  to  content  themselves.  Indeed  they  were  as  yet  not 
very  sanguine  of  a  favorable  result  at  all,  well  knowing  that  Jones 
and  Person  were  still  unconvinced  of  the  wisdom  of  the  whole  plan 
and  would  use  the  intervening  period  to  discover  and  advertise 
any  weaknesses  the  new  government  might  manifest. 

No  untoward  circumstances,  however,  occurred  within  the  fol- 
lowing twelve  months  to  daunt  the  hopes  of  those  who  had  faith 
in  the  new  Union.  Before  the  middle  of  1789  its  machinery  had 
been  set  in  motion.  Washington  at  the  head  of  the  state  inspired 
universal  confidence.  Congress  began  in  a  conservative  spirit  to 
clothe  the  governmental  skeleton  with  flesh  and  blood. 

The  federalists  of  North  Carolina  conceded  at  the  outset  that 
the  constitution  should  be  amended  according  to  the  demand  so 
generally  expressed  by  the  states  upon  their  ratification.      They 


30  N.  C.  State  Records,  XX,  492.     See  also  McRee  II,  247,  Johnston  to 
Iredell,  Nov.  20,  1788. 

31  State  Rec.,  XX.,  506.     These  disqualifying  laws  had  been  passed  in  17S4 
and  1785.    See  State  Rec,  XXIV.,  683,  732. 

32 Ibid.  XXI.,  83. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  17 

looked  to33  James  Madison  of  Virginia  to  bring  the  matter  forward 
early  in  the  first  congress.  Such  action  would  go  far  toward  over- 
coming North  Carolina's  hesitation.  The  anti-federal  section  of 
the  radical  party,  allowing  scant  time  for  such  a  move,  were,  in 
May,  1789,  remarking  with  great  triumph  the  fulfilment  of  their 
prophecies  with  respect  to  Congress  never  taking  up  the  subject. 
Madison,  however,  at  the  end  of  the  month,  brought  the  expected 
list  of  amendments  forward  and  showed  every  inclination  to  push 
their  adoption.  This  promptness,  together  with  the  fact  that  the 
champion  of  amendment  was  a  federalist,34  made  the  North  Caro- 
lina federalists  jubilant  and  to  the  same  degree  confounded  the 
anti-federalists.35  In  the  meantime,  and  as  the  date  of  the  state's 
second  convention  approached  sentiment  favorable  to  the  constitu- 
tion increased  and  definitely  crystallized  for  final  action. 

The  second  North  Carolina  convention  called  to  consider  the 
federal  constitution  met  at  Fayetteville,  November  16,  1789,  and 
five  days  later  passed  an  ordinance  of  ratification  by  a  majority  of 
one  hundred  and  eighteen  votes.  General  Johnston  was  presi- 
dent. Other  prominent  federalists  with  seats  in  the  body  were 
William  R.  Davie,  John  Steele,  Hugh  Williamson,  Charles  John- 
son ,  and  William  Barry  Grove.  Thomas  Person  and  Judge  Samuel 
Spencer  led  the  anti -federalists,  Willie  Jones  having  refused  to 
accept  a  seat  in  the  body  whose  action  was  a  foregone  conclusion 
and  with  which  he  had  no  sympathy. 

In  considering  the  final  causes  that  led  North  Carolina  to  ratify 
the  United  States  Constitution  the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that 
the  primary  influence  was  its  ratification  by  eleven  of  the  other 
states  and  thereby  the  automatic  dissolution  of  the  old  Confedera- 
tion. Thus  North  Carolina  was  left  in  an  isolated  position,  out 
of  relation  with  her  sisters  with  whose  fortunes  hers  were  naturally 

33  McRee,  II.,  258,  Thomas  Lowther  to  Jamas  Iredell,  May  9,  1789. 

34  Madison  afterward  arrayed  himself  in  opposition  to  the  federalists  as  a 
political  party  and  became  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Republicans.  The  fact 
that  the  North  Carolina  federalists  at  this  early  date  looked  to  him  as  leader 
is  significant  in  that  many  of  tlem  went  through  the  same  political  evolu- 
tion, thus  in  part  accounting  for  the  failure  of  a  vigorous  growth  of  Federal- 
ism in  the  State. 

35  McRee,  II.,  260,  Davie  to  Iredell,  June  4,  1789. 


18  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

linked.  She  had  not  demanded  a  reorganization  of  the  old  gov- 
ernment and,  despite  the  energetic  campaign  carried  on  by  the 
conservatives,  there  was  aroused  no  popular  appreciation  of  the 
new  scheme  from  the  date  of  its  promulgation  to  that  of  its  ratifi- 
cation. Public  opinion  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  change  and  was 
artificially  ripened  by  the  consciousness  of  the  state's  isolation. 
A  majority  may  have  at  any  time  admitted  that  the  new  constitu- 
tion had  points  of  superiority  over  the  old;  but,  likewise,  there 
was  always  a  majority  that  feared  the  states  were  yielding  up  too 
much.  It  was  hope,  rather  than  faith,  that  finally  over-balanced 
fear.  Only  a  minority  body  of  public  opinion,  finding  expression 
in  the  old  leaders  of  the  conservative  faction,  had  full  faith  that 
the  new  order  would  be  safer  than  the  old.  Even  this  faith  was 
in  part  artificially  stimulated  by  the  belief  that  the  changing  order 
would  serve  as  an  opportunity  for  the  "outs"  in  state  politics  to 
seize  power.  This  was  the  capitalization  of  a  hope  that  was  never 
realized  though,  as  the  following  chapter  will  explain,  a  larger 
field  for  public  service  now  opened  before  them. 


II.  After  the  Adoption  of  the  Constitution 

Consistent  with  the  good  policy  of  having  the  government 
launched  by  its  friends  and  because  of  his  just  claims  upon  the 
state's  regard  the  North  Carolina  Assembly  unanimously  chose 
Governor  Samuel  Johnston  as  its  first  United  States  senator.  Ben- 
jamin Hawkins,  likewise  a  federalist,  received  the  second  toga. 
Two  months  later,  February  10,  1790,  James  Iredell  was  named 
by  President  Washington  as  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  Preliminary  to  the  represented  apportion- 
ment to  be  based  upon  the  census  of  1790  the  state  had  been  as- 
signed five  members  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  Trie  assem- 
bly therefore  districted  the  state  for  representation  by  combining 
for  each  district  two  of  the  ten  superior  court  districts.36  This 
gave  one  to  the  trans-mountain  region,37  thus  leaving  only  four 
east  of  the  mountains.  Elections  were  held  in  February  in  the 
four  eastern  districts,  resulting  in  the  choice  of  two  federalists38 
—  Hugh  Williamson  and  John  Steele  —  and  two  anti-federalists — 
Timothy  Bloodworth  and  John  B.  Ashe, 

Johnston  and  Hawkins,  the  two  senators,  reached  New  York, 
the  seat  of  Congress,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year.  The  represen- 
tatives did  not  all  arrive  before  the  middle  of  April,  when  con- 
gress was  in  the  hottest  of  the  conflict  over  Hamilton's  financial 

36  Laws  of  N.  C.  State  Records  XXV.,  1-3. 

37  The  trans-monntain  district,  the  defunct  State  of  Franklin,  chose  John 
Sevier,  its  late  revolutionary  governor.  In  April,  1790,  through  her  sena- 
tors, North  Carolina  executed  a  deed  of  cession  of  this  turbulent  territory  to 
the  United  States  government  and  before  long  it  was  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  the  state  of  Tennessee.  After  this  cession  five  representatives  were  still 
allowed  North  Carolina.  For  the  second  districting  act  see  laws  of  N.  C, 
State  Records,  XXV,  64-65. 

38  Since,  after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  the  term  "Federalist"  was 
continued  in  use  to  designate  the  party  that  had  brought  about  union  and 
controlled  the  new  government.  Hence  "anti-federalist"  was  for  a  time 
used  to  designate  the  opposition.  Therefore  these  two  names  will  now  dis- 
place, respectively,  "conservatives"  and  "radicals"  in  North  Carolina  poli- 
tics until  the  anti-federalists  came  to  be  known  as  Republicans. 


20  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

proposals.  Senator  Johnston  supported39  Madison  in  the  latter's 
proposal  to  make  a  discrimination  between  the  original 
national  debt  certificates  and  those  who  had  purchased  them  at 
depreciated  value.  He  likewise  opposed  the  assumption  of  state 
debts,  writing40  Iredell :  "I  am  of  the  opinion  that  if  Congress 
adopts  that  measure  one  of  two  evils  will  necessarily  ensue,  either 
they  will  not  be  able  to  comply  with  their  engagements,  or  in 
order  to  enable  them  to  comply  they  will  be  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  laying  taxes  which  will  be  oppressive  to  the  people  and 
injure  the  government  in  their  opinion.  The  House,  at  this  time, 
is  very  nearly  divided  on  the  question.  If  our  members  come  for- 
ward in  time  I  have  hopes  that  the  assumption  of  state  debts  will 
not  take  place."  The  North  Carolina  members  did  arrive  a  few 
days  afterward  and  all  arrayed  themselves,  under  Madison's  lead- 
ership, against  the  measure.  Williamson  took  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  debate.  He  alleged  that  assumption  would  be  palpably 
unfair  to  those  states  which  had  already  discharged  a  large  part  of 
their  debts  if  they  were  now  to  be  taxed  to  discharge  the  debts  of 
those  that  were  delinquent.  He  claimed  that  assumption  would 
be  an  invasion  of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  states  and  contradic- 
tory to  the  powers  North  Carolina  understood  herself  to  have 
granted  when  she  ratified  the  constitution.41  The  accession  of  the 
North  Carolina  delegation  to  the  non-assumption  party  was  decis- 
ive for  the  time,  the  question  being  deferred.  Furthermore  no 
Federalist  of  note  left  in  private  life  in  North  Carolina  endorsed 
the  bold  program  of  Hamilton.  Davie  was  tremblingly  alive  to 
every  influence  that  might  threaten  the  stability  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment and  thought  such  measures  quite  unfitted  to  its  infant 
resources.4*  Indeed  it  began  to  appear  that  in  North  Carolina 
"Federalism"  meant  federation  only,  an  end  already  achieved. 
The  political  principles,  centralization  of  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  federal  government  and  loose  construction  of  the  constitution, 

39McRee,  II.,  281.    Johnston  to  Iredell,  Feb.  18,  1790. 

40  Ibid.  II,  286,  April  6,  1790. 

41  Gales  and  Seaton,  History  of  Cong.,  I,  1490,  Speech  of  Hugh  William- 
son on  Assumption. 

42  McRee  II.,  281.    Davie  to  Iredell,  April,  1790. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  21 

which  the  Federalists  as  a  national  party  were  now  beginning  to 
develop,  would  evidently  be  of  slow  growth  in  the  state. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  the  North  Carolina  Federalists,  both  in 
and  out  of  public  life,  were  inclined  to  balk  at  the  Federalist 
national  program.  However  this  was  but  a  mild  reflex  from  the 
violent  reaction  that  began  to  manifest  itself  immediately  after  rat- 
ification. The  rampant  state  democracy,  still  in  control,  repent- 
ed itself  of  the  temporary  trust  it  had  imposed  in  those  who  had 
advised  federation  under  a  strengthened  constitution.  Those  who 
had  opposed  ratification  to  the  end  now  gained  complete  ascend- 
ency in  the  party.  The  fruits  of  the  new  Union,  they  said,  already 
began  to  ripen  bitter.  On  December  15,  the  General  Assembly 
passed  resolutions  condemning  the  assumption  of  state  debts  as 
an  infringement  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  states.  A  solemn  pro- 
test was  uttered  against  the  policy  and  the  state's  senators  and 
representatives  in  Congress  were  directed  to  use  their  endeavors  to 
prevent  as  far  as  possible  the  evil  operation  of  such  acts  to  the 
interests  and  liberty  of  the  country.43  By  this  date  the  assump- 
tion measure  was  law,  the  two  senators  from  North  Carolina  lend- 
ing it  their  support  at  the  last,  while  the  state's  whole  delegation 
in  the  lower  house  remained  steadfast  in  the  opposition.  The 
Assembly  was  highly  exasperated  at  the  action  of  the  senators  and 
exasperation  turned  into  keen  distrust  when  they  failed  to  attend 
the  legislative  session  for  a  few  days  and  make  report  of  their 
stewardship.44  Had  this  been  senatorial  year  they  would  assured- 
ly have  lost  their  seats.  The  representatives  were  in  different 
case.  They  had  not  offended  by  their  votes  in  Congress.  More- 
over all  the  delegation,  both  Federalists  and  anti-Federalists,  were 
conspicuously45  present  at  the  November- December  session,  1790. 
Their  districts  were  to  be  faced  the  following  year  and  attendance 


43  N.  C.  State  Records,  XXI.,  1055. 

44McRee  II.,  302-303.  A.  Maclaine  to  Iredell  and  John  Hay  to  Iredell. 
The  Senators  likewise  voted  for  the  Excise  Bill,  thus  further  offending  the 
State  legislature.  See  McRee  II.,  326-330,  Iredell  to  John  Hay  for  a  very 
able  defense  of  the  senators. 

45  Ibid.  II.,  302.  A.  Maclaine  to  Iredell,  Nov.  18, 1790. 


22  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

upon  the  legislature  was  the  best  method  for  mending  political 
fences.  North  Carolinians  had  not  yet  got  away  from  the  idea 
that  their  legislature  was  the  exponent  of  their  sovereignty.  Nor 
was  the  legislature,  on  this  account,  backward  in  demanding  from 
the  state's  servants  a  recognition  of  its  primary  importance. 

The  legislature  of  North  Carolina,  through  these  last  years  of 
the  18th  century,  was  composed  of  the  ablest  men  to  be  found  in 
the  counties  who  were  not  already  officials  in  other  capacities. 
Familiarity  with  public  affairs  was  not  claimed  by  the  average 
citizen  and  hence  he  inevitably  trusted  and  clothed  with  power 
those  few  in  each  community  who  by  character,  knowledge,  or 
experience  were  best  fitted  to  direct  the  fortunes  of  the  state. 
Professional  politicians  had  not  yet  made  their  appearance. 
Nevertheless'  there  was  observable  a  tendency  to  recognize  an 
official  class,  though  this  class  was  not  a  close  corporation  that 
played  politics  for  its  own  advantage.  Rather  it  was  a  class  com- 
posed of  men  who  by  natural  ability  in  leadership,  or  by  educa- 
tion, stood  out  as  worthy  the  confidence  of  the  masses.  In  all 
popular  elections  before  the  Revolution  it  was  the  practice  in  North 
Carolina  to  confer  public  honors  upon  this  official  class  despite  its 
tendency  to  become  an  official  aristocracy.  But  during  the  pro- 
cess of  the  Revolution  democracy  had  become  enthroned  in  the 
state.  Hence,  afterward,  only  such  of  the  old  official  class  as  had 
actively  identified  themselves  with  the  patriot  cause  and  could,  at 
least  measurably,  readjust  themselves  to  harmony  with  the  new 
spirit  of  democracy  found  opportunity  for  public  service.  The 
majority  of  these  had  become  conservatives  after  1776  and  sought 
to  moderate  the  radical  tendencies  of  the  state  administration. 
Later,  as  has  been  shown,  they  became  federalists  and,  like  Sam- 
uel Johnston,  commanded  confidence  and  received  a  fair  share  of 
public  honors.  By  1790,  however,  the  state  had  begun  to  pro- 
duce a  new  crop  of  aspirants  for  political  leadership.  These  were 
the  true  type  of  that  rough,  crude,  but  virile  democracy  that  was 
to  give  its  distinctive  characteristics  to  the  life  of  the  young  repub- 
lic for  the  next  half  century.  Many  of  the  new  political  aspir- 
ants were  not  "gentlemen"  in  the  old  colonial  or  English  mean- 
ing of  the  term.      They  would  not  have  been  at  ease  or  found 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  23 

great  enjoyment,  as  did  Samuel  Johnston  and  his  class,46  in  drink- 
ing coffee  with  Lady  Washington.  Many  of  them  lacked  educa- 
tion and  polish  but  were  men  of  ability  and  were  fast  developing 
those  qualities  of  leadership  that  such  an  environment  demanded. 
Most  of  this  new  class  were,  in  1790-91,  to  be  found  in  the  antr 
federal  party,  now  soon  to  be  known  in  the  nation  as  the  Repub- 
lican party  under  the  leadership  and  inspiration  of  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. It  was  of  such  men,  together  with  a  respectable  minority  of 
old  conservatives,  that  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina  was  made 
up  and  whose  influence  in  their  respective  counties  would  decide 
the  fortunes  of  the  congressional  candidates. 

So  acceptable  to  North  Carolina  had  been  the  votes  of  all  her 
congressmen  in  the  first  congress,  Federalists  and  anti-Federalists 
alike,  and  so  respectful  had  been  their  attitude  toward  the  Assem- 
bly, that  all  were  returned  in  the  elections  of  1791  save  one. 
This  was  Timothy  Blood  worth,  an  extreme  anti-Federalist,  who 
was  defeated  in  the  Wilmington  district  by  William  Barry  Grove, 
a  most  ardent  Federalist.  This  district  was  now,  and  for  long, 
dominated  by  Scotch  influence,  the  Scotch  inhabitants  of  the  Cape 
Fear  valley  making  up  the  bulk  of  the  population.  The  Scotch 
had  been  Loyalists  in  the  Revolution  and  had  suffered  much  at 
the  hands  of  the  victorious  party.  Thus  they  were  naturally  in- 
clined toward  Federalism,  understanding  it  to  mean  centralization 
and  stability  and  depression  of  surviving  Revolutionary  hatreds 
yet  fostered  by  the  state  democracy.  This  district,  therefore, 
became  the  stronghold  of  Federalism  in  North  Carolina,  retaining 
Grove  in  the  House  for  the  next  twelve  years,  through  which 
period  he  became  more  and  more  antagonistic  to  Republican  prin- 

46  Johnston  was  a  man  of  courtly  manners  and  moved  easily  in  any 
social  environment,  lie  was  careful  to  discharge  social  obligations  and 
found  enjoyment  even  in  the  somewhat  stiff  society  of  Washington's  "court.  " 
Writing  to  Iredell,  his  brother-in-law,  March  4,  1790,  he  says:  "I  have  just 
left  the  President's,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  almost  every 
member  of  the  senate.  We  had  some  excellent  champagne  and,  after  it, 
I  had  the  honor  of  drinking  coffee  with  his  Lady,  a  most  amiable  woman. 
If  I  live  much  longer  I  believe  I  shall  at  last  be  reconciled  to  the  company 
of  old  women  for  her  sake,  a  circumstance  I  once  thought  impossible." 
McRee  II.,  284. 


21  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

ciples  as  the  years  went  by.  At  the  same  election  Nathaniel  Ma- 
con was  chosen  in  the  Hillsboro  district.47  Macon,  as  a  Republi- 
can of  the  Jeffersoriian  school  of  thought,  was  now  assuming  the 
state  leadership  that  Willie  Jones  was  voluntarily  relinquishing. 
Likewise  he  was  just  beginning  his  thirty-seven  years  of  continu- 
ous service  in  Congress,48  upon  whose  actions  he  was  to  leave  a 
definite  impress. 

In  party  nomenclature,  therefore,  North  Carolina  had  three 
Federalists  and  two  anti-Federalists  in  the  Second  Congress,  though 
even  the  nominal  Federalists  were  not  at  this  date  suspected  of 
entertaining  the  principles  of  loose  constitutional  construction  and 
national  centralization  of  powers  for  which  the  term  "Federalism" 
was  soon  to  stand  in  the  South. 

By  1793  party  lines  were  more  clearly  drawn  in  the  shite  and  the 
trend  of  Federalism  more  clearly  understood  in  its  new  interpreta- 
tion. Hence  in  that  year  out  of  the  ten  representatives49  chosen 
only  one  Federalist  secured  election,  and  that  the  redoubtable  Will- 
iam Barry  Grove.  In  the  meantime  Samuel  Johnston,  now  regard- 
ed as  deep-dyed  in  Federalism,  and  proving  totally  unpliant  to  the 
Avill  of  the  jealous  legislature,50  lost  his  seat  in  the  session  of  1792- 
93,  giving  place  to  the  anti-Federalist  Alexander  Martin.  Thus  in 
1793  North  Carolina  retained  only  two  Federalists  in  elective 
offices, — W.  B.  Grove  in  the  House  and  Benjamin  Hawkins  in  the 
Senate.  The  latter  had  been  elected  in  1789  for  the  long  term 
and,  therefore,  his  tenure  would  not  expire  before  1795.  The 
Federalist  leaders,  though  practically  eliminated  from  official  life 

47  The  census  returns  of  1790  had  not  yet  been  completed.  North  Caro- 
lina, though  having  ceded  Tennessee  in  1790,  was  still  allowed  five  congress- 
men as  under  the  old  apportionment;  thus  the  choice  in  1791  of  an  addition- 
al congressman. 

48  Macon  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Reprentatives  from  1791  to  1815, 
being  chosen  Senator  in  the  latter  year  and  retaining  his  seat  until  his  vol- 
untary retirement  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years  in  1828. 

49  This  number  of  representatives  was  apportioned  to  North  Carolina  as 
a  result  of  the  census  of  1790. 

50  Johnston's  vote  on  the  Excise  Bill,  a  measure  extremely  unpopular  in 
North  Carolina,  deeply  offended  the  Assembly.  See  McRee  II.,  336.  Johns- 
ton to  Iredell. 


James  Sprvnt  Historical  Publications  25 

in  1793  except  in  certain  federal  appointive  offices,  had  not  really 
been  guilty  of  any  dereliction  of  duty  to  the  state's  interests.  To 
be  sure  they  had  manifested  the  firmest  faith  in  the  principle  of 
union  as  a  cure  for  the  many  ills  affecting  the  old  Confederacy. 
Likewise  they  believed  that  honesty  and  wisdom  had  character- 
ized the  course  of  the  new  government  so  far.  None  of  them  up 
to  1793  had  shown  any  disposition  to  strain  the  Constitution  over 
a  doubtful  point  unless  the  senators'  support  of  Hamilton's  finan- 
cial measures  might  be  so  construed.  Essentially  they  had  been 
as  strict  constructionists  as  their  anti-Federal  opponents  except 
when  the  principle  of  union  was  endangered.  Judge  Iredell,  in 
fact,  original  Federalist,  and  now  United  States  Supreme  Court 
Justice,  set  his  partymen  of  the  South  a  strict  construction  stand- 
ard, February,  1794,  in  his  dissenting  opinion  in  the  Chisholm  vs. 
Georgia  case.51 

Involving  the  right  of  a  citizen  to  sue  a  state  this  case  indirect- 
ly raised  the  question  as  to  the  status  of  a  state  in  the  American 
Union;  i.e.,  whether  it  had  ever  been  sovereign,  was  sovereign 
now,  or  had  divested  itself  of  sovereignty  when  it  entered  the 
Union.  Iredell  evolved  the  theory  of  divided  sovereignty,  hold- 
ing that  the  states  remained  sovereign  except  to  the  extent  they 
had  curtailed  this  sovereignty  by  delegating  its  exercise  in  certain 
cases  to  the  federal  government.  His  c  :.nion  was  a  clear  intima- 
tion to  the  country  that  the  constitution  of  the  Union  was  of  the 
nature  of  a  compact  and  that  safety  lay  only  in  strict  construc- 
tion of  its  terms.  Federalist  though  he  was  and  one  of  the  warm- 
est and  most  influential  advocates  of  the  Constitution,  he  thus 
gave  the  Republicans  the  cue  to  their  most  powerful  political  prin- 
ciple. The  government  had  been  launched,  and  launched  success- 
fully, under  the  latter's  carping  criticisms  and  distrust  of  motives ; 
but  no  definite  crystallization  of  principles  had  occurred  among 
them  until  Iredell  struck  the  keynote,  strict  construction,  which 
became  the  party's  shibboleth  and  remained  its  central  principle 
for  seventy  ye;irs.     The  leading  Federalists  in  North  Carolina  gen  _ 


51  For  report  of  this  case  see  Dallas,   U.   S.  Supreme  Court  Reports,  II., 
419-480. 


26  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

erally  remained  silent  on  the  subject  of  Iredell's  attitude  in  this 
case,  only  one  —  William  R.  Davie — writing  in  approval.52  The 
country  generally,  however,  soon  came  to  endorse  Iredell's  main 
premise  that  a  state  should  not  be  sued  by  a  citizen  and  the 
eleventh  amendment  was  the  ultimate  result. 

Jay's  treaty  with  Britain,  made  in  1794,  gives  a  second  test 
within  this  year  by  which  to  gauge  the  strength  of  Federalism  in 
North  Carolina.  This  treaty  was  a  disappointment  to  the  whole 
country  but  was  defended  in  strong  Federalist  centers,  the  adminis- 
tration likewise  being  strong  enough  to  effect  its  ratification.  In 
North  Carolina,  however,  no  single  influential  voice  was  raised  in 
its  defense.  W.  B.  Grove,  the  state's  lone  Federalist  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  did  dare  to  vote  for  the  appropriation  necee- 
sary  to  carry  the  treaty  terms  into  effect;  but  all  other  Federalists 
of  state  prominence,  whether  in  or  out  of  public  service,  agreed 
with  the  opposition,  though  somewhat  more  mildly,  in  its  con- 
demnation. Johnston  wrote:53  "It  [the  treaty]  appears  to  be  a 
hasty  performance."  After  stating  certain  of  its  more  striking 
objections  he  goes  on :  "I  confess  they  have  greatly  lessened  my 
opinion  of  Mr.  Jay's  ability  as  a  negotiator;  at  the  same  time  I 
think  it  most  wicked  in  those  who  charge  him  with  perfidy  and 
corruption.  Time  I  hope  will  do  justice  to  his  character  and  con- 
found those  bad  men  who  are  endeavoring  to  blacken  it."  Later 
he  wrote:54  "The  whole  continent  seems  to  be  enraged  against 
Mr.  Jay  and  his  Treaty.  Tis  a  pity  that  there  is  seldom  so  much 
pains  taken  to  conciliate  the  minds  of  the  multitude  as  is  taken  to 
inflame  them Nothing  seems  so  much  to  contrib- 
ute to  the  happiness  of  some  people  as  to  see  everyone  distr< 
and  discontented  with  the  state  of  public  affairs."  Davie 
explicitly  condemned  the  treaty  but  at  the  same  time  showed  an 
even  greater  solicitude  for  the  endangered  government  than  did 
Johnston.  He  said:55  "The  present  crisis  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  most  delicate  and  important  since  the  organization  of  the  gov- 

52McRee,  II.,  382.     Davie  to  Iredell. 

53  McRee  II.,  450.    To  Iredell. 

54  McRee  II.,  453.    To  Iredell,  Au«.  15.  1795. 

55  Ibid.  II.,  454.    To  Iredell,  Sept.  4,  1795. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  27 

ernment.  The  Anti-Federalists  and  the  personal  enemies  of  the 
Administration  have  rallied  with  astonishing  activity.  The  cir- 
cumstance of  the  Treaty  has  ranged  a  variety  of  parties  on  their 
side  and  given  an  imposing  appearance  to  their  numhers.  I  be- 
lieve they  will  now  make  their  last  effort  to  shake  the  Govern- 
ment." The  words  of  Johnston  and  Davie  seemed  to  express  the 
general  attitude  of  the  Federalists  in  North  Carolina.  They  con- 
sidered the  treaty  a  blunder  but  strongly  deprecated  its  being 
made  a  lever  for  weakening  the  government.  The  Republicans 
in  Congress,  under  inspiration  from  Jefferson  and  the  leadership 
of  Madison,  sought  to  set  it  aside  by  refusing  the  appropriation 
necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect.  The  Federalists,  however,  won 
by  a  narrow  margin. 

This  Republican  defeat  resulted  in  bringing  Jefferson  into  the 
field  as  candidate  for  the  presidency  in  1796  against  John  Adams. 
The  return56  of  Jefferson  to  the  political  arena  likewise  called  forth 
his  old  disciple  in  North  Carolina,  Willie  Jones,  from  political 
retirement.  In  this  year  the  latter  again  stood  for  a  seat  in  the 
Assembly,  the  announcement  of  which  was  equivalent  to  his  elec- 
tion. This  recrudescence  of  Jones  boded  no  good  to  the  Federalist 
cause  in  the  state,  though  it  had  already  begun  to  show  active 
signs  of  revival  when  danger  seemed  to  threaten  the  Union  in  the 
sharp  controversy  over  Jay's  treaty. 

A  preliminary  skirmish  between  the  reviving  Federalist  party 
and  its  opponent  was  the  choice  of  a  senator  in  1795  to  succeed 
Benjamin  Hawkins,  Federalist,  elected  in  1789.  John  Steele  be- 
came the  candidate  of  the  party.  Timothy  Bloodworth,  Repub- 
lican, opposed  him.  The  fight  waxed  warm  in  the  legislature. 
The  charge  of  subserviency  to  Hamilton  while  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  of  having  "joined  the  aristocratical  party"57 
was  fatal  to  Steele,  though  not  until  outside  influence  had  been 
exerted  against  him.58     Bloodworth,  the  blacksmith,  was  chosen, 

56  Jefferson  was  Secretary  of  State  in  Washington's  cabinet  and  had  re- 
tired in  Jan.,  1794. 

57  James  Sprunt  Historical  Monograph,  No.  3,  p.  18,  Col.  Joseph  Mc- 
Dowell to  Gen.  John  Steele,  Jan.  12,  1795. 

58  Senator  Pierce  Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  wrote,  opposing  Steele  on  the 


28  James  Sjrrunb  Historical  Publications 

much  to  the  mortification  of  Davie  and  other  Federalists  who  pro- 
fessed much  concern  for  the  reputation  of  the  state.59  The  strength 
shown  by  the  Federalists  in  this  contest  over  the  senatorship 
aroused  their  hopes  of  securing  a  respectable  member  of  the  presi- 
dential electors  in  1796.  In  the  presidential  election  of  1788 
North  Carolina  did  not  participate,  not  being  at  that  time  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Virion.  In  1792  her  votes  had  been  given  to  Washing- 
ton in  grateful  acknowledgement  of  his  services  and  as  a  tribute 
to  his  character,  though  at  the  same  time  Clinton  of  New  York, 
Republican,  was  her  choice  for  vice-president.  Although  Wash- 
ington was  on  the  eve  of  retirement  in  1796  and  Federalism  had 
so  far  failed  to  develop  any  strength  in  North  Carolina,  Samuel 
Johnston  and  other  Federalists  believed60  it  possible  to  secure  at 
least  four  of  the  state's  twelve  electoral  votes  for  John  Adams. 
Events  proved  their  hopes  over-sanguine,  Adams  receiving  only 
one,61  eleven  going  to  Jefferson  the  standard  bearer  of  Republican- 
ism. 

Adams,  however,  won  over  his  rival  by  a  narrow  margin,  the 
latter,  by  the  old  plan  of  election,  becoming  vice-president. 
Though  contributing  so  small  a  part  thereto  the  North  Carolina 
Federalists  heartily  congratulated  themselves  and  the  country 
upon  Adams's  victory,62  though  none  of  them  as  yet  voiced  the 
great  dread  of  Jefferson  that  was  so  common  among  Federalists 
elsewhere.  Nor  did  victorious  Republicanism  refuse  to  Washing- 
ton, upon  his  retirement  in  1797,  the  meed  of  reverence  that  was 
his  due.  The  Assembly  voted  him  an  address  couched  in  warm, 
affectionate,  and  respectful  terms,  the  Federalists  of  the  state  re- 
garding this  as  a  just  rebuke  to  Nathaniel  .Macon  who  had  voted' 
in  Congress  against  a  similar  address  from  that  body. 

But  with  Washington  retired  to  private  life  and  ins   personal 
influence  removed  as  a  restraining  force  there  was  every   indica- 

gronnd  of  his  conduct  in  the  House.     See  McRee  II.,  407.    Butler  to  Iredell. 
59  Ibid.,  II.,  431.     Davie  to  Iredell. 
60 McRee  II.,  481,  Johnston  to  Iredell. 

61  The  Scotch  District. 

62  W.  B.  Grove  to  James  Hogg.    Grove  Corr.,  Sprunt   Historical  Mono- 
graphs, No.  3,  116. 

63  Annals  of  Cong.,  4th  Congress,  2  Sess.,  1688. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  29 

tion  that  North  Carolina  would  turn  more  passionately  than  ever 
to  strict  Repuhlicanism  of  the  Jeffersonian  brand.  This  was  due 
in  part  to  the  influence  of  Virginia,64  but  in  larger  part  to  the 
spirit  of  state  individualism  that  Willie  Jones  had  stamped  so 
indelibly  upon  the  state  during  the  life  of  the  Confederation.  So 
far  every  hope  of  building  up  Federalist  strength  had  failed.  It 
remained  to  be  seen  what  would  be  the  result  should  circumstances 
arise  that  threatened  violently  the  principle  of  union.  Was  North 
Carolina  Republicanism,  or  even  that  of  Virginia,  of  a  sort  that, 
in  its  opposition  to  Federalism  as  a  set  of  party  principles,  it 
would  go  to  the  extreme  length  of  permitting  the  Federal  system 
of  union  to  fail?  The  country  was  now  on  the  eve  of  a  crisis  in 
public  affairs  that  bade  fair  to  render  a  fairly  definite  answer  to 
this  question. 

This  crisis  was  precipitated  by  the  course  of  external  politics. 
In  the  spring  of  1798  the  long  series  of  aggravations  America  had 
suffered65  at  the  hands  of  revolutionary  France  culminated  in  the 
X.Y.Z.  affair.  In  this  it  was  clearly  demonstrated  that  the 
French  Directory  had  dealt  most  perfidiously  with  America's  en- 
voys and  offered  an  insult  to  her  sovereignty.  President  Adams 
took  proper  offense  and  prepared  to  assert  the  nation's  dignity. 
The  war-spirit  blazed  fiercely  for  a  time.      Federalists  and  Repub- 

64  Virginia's  influence  upon  public  affairs  in  North  Caaolina  was,  at  this 
time,  and  before,  a  subject  of  frequent  reference  by  public  men  of  both 
stutcs.     Ree  John  Marshall  to  Iredell,  Mcrtee  II.,  482, 

65  The  excesses  of  the  French  Revolution  caused  the  outbreak  of  a  war 
between  England  and  France  in  1793  which  continued  without  a  lull  until 
1802.  By  neither  combatant  were  the  rights  of  weaker  nations,  whether 
neutrals,  or  participants,  respected.  Public  sentiment  in  America  became 
divided  on  party  lines  in  America  as  between  England  and  France.  The 
Federalists  had  no  sympathy  with  the  violent  French  and  leaned  toward 
England.  The  Republican  party  was  intensely  pro-French  in  sympathy, 
hoping  to  see  a  stable  self-governing  democracy  evolved  by  the  Revolution. 
With  the  coming  of  Genet  in  1793,  and  onward,  France,  through  her  minis- 
ters reflected  upon  Washington's  government  with  ill-concealed  contempt 
and  sought  to  establish  the  Republican  party  in  power.  The  prolongation 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  Federalist  party  was  due  in  great  part  to  the  un- 
healthy attitude  assumed  by  the  Republicans  toward  France. 


30  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

licans  alike  —  except  the  intensest  partisans  of  the  latter  —  up- 
held the  President's  hands. 

In  the  summer  of  1798,  while  the  war  fever  was  at  it"  height, 
North  Carolina  chose  a  state  legislature  and  her  ten  representa- 
tives to  Congress.  The  Federalists  won  a  definite  majority  in  the 
Senate  and  likewise  a  majority  —  though  a  small  and  waning  one 
—  in  the  house.  At  the  same  time  they  carried  six  congressional 
districts.  In  September  Hon.  Charles  Lee,  member  of  Congress 
from  Virginia,  was  able  to  congratulate  the  North  Carolina  Fed- 
eralists in  these  terms:66  "The  change  in  North  Carolina  is  most 
pleasing,  and  with  so  good  an  example  before  Virginia  I  trust  this 
state  will  amend  her  representation  also.  General  Marshall  is  a 
candidate  in  Richmond  District,  —  Mr.  Bushrod  Washington  in 
Nicholas,  etc."  The  six  members  elected  as  Federalists  in  North 
Carolina  were:  W.  B.  Grove,  Joseph  Dickson,  William  H.  Hill, 
Archibald  Henderson,67  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight,  and  David  Stone. 
As  members  of  the  6th  Congress  the  first  four  named  uniformly 
cast  their  votes  with  the  Federalist  party.  Spaight  and  Stone, 
however,  influenced  by  the  Republican  agitation  for  repeal  of  cer- 
tain obnoxious  legislation68  of  the  5th  Congress,  soon  left  the  Fed- 
eralist ranks  and  joined  the  opposition.  Thus  the  party's  con- 
gressional gains  were  not  in  reality  as  great  as  they  seemed  upon 
election  day. 

The  North  Carolina  Assembly  met  in  November,  179*,  while 
active  preparations  for  war  with  France  were  still  going  forward. 
Samuel  Johnston  was  again  to  be  found  in  the  state  senate,  this 

66  McRee,  II.,  536,  Lee  to  Iredell. 

67  Henderson  was  chosen  from  the  Salisbury,  or  "Western"  District. 
He  possessed  strong  Federalist  principles,  but  lis  victory  at  this  date  seems 
to  have  been  due  less  to  Federalism  than  to  the  beginning  of  a  reversion  of 
the  whole  western  part  of  the  state  to  its  old  principle  of  antagonism  to  the 
"East".  For  a  sketch  of  the  political  differences  between  "East"  and 
"West"  in  North  Carolina  see  the  author's  State  Rights  and  Political  Par- 
ties.   Chap.  III.,  pp.  60-80. 

68  The  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts.  The  Republicans  in  Congress  continu- 
ously agitated  for  a  repeal  of  the  Sedition  Act  throughout  the  6th  Congress. 
Spaight  and  Stone  both  became  Republicans  during  this  Congress  and  re- 
mained with  that  party  thereafter.  Stone  soon  becoming  one  of  its  f ore- 
most  leaders.    See  Annals  of  Congress,  6th  Cong.,  976,  1038,  1030. 


James^Sprunt  Historical  Publications  31 

time  in  high  confidence  that  his  party  was  at  last  dominant.  Wil- 
liam R.  Davie,  recently  appointed  Brigadier-General  in  the  United 
States  army,  was  a  member  of  the  lower  house.  These  two  were 
expected  to  conserve  and  direct  the  Federalist  majority.  Though 
devoting  much  of  his  time  to  preparation  of  the  state  militia  for 
war.Davie  did  not  at  this  juncture  neglect  his  party's  fortunes. 
He  was  brought  forward  by  the  Federalists  as  candidate  for  gov- 
ernor and  on  the  4th  of  December  was  chosen  by  a  joint  session 
of  the  two  houses69  over  his  Republican  opponent,  Benjamin  Wil- 
liams. Up  to  this  date  Federalist  revival  of  strength  was  clearly 
due  to  the  momentum  gathered  in  the  general  rally  of  the  country 
to  Adams'  support  in  the  crisis  with  France.  Johnston  wrote70  on 
Nov.  28:  "I  have  spoken  to  some  members  upon  the  subject  of 
addressing  the  President  and  find  it  pretty  generally  approved; 
but  I  have  waited  for  Davie  before  introducing  it,  that  I  might 
avail  myself  of  his  influence  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  hopes 
of  getting  a  unanimous  vote.  All  the  members  with  whom  I  have 
conversed  are  wonderfully  federal.  I  say  wonderful  because  I 
never  conceived  it  possible  there  could  be  so  universal  a  conversion 
in  so  short  a  space  of  time."  Unknown  to  Johnston,  however, 
the  wave  of  new  Federalist  vigor  had  all  but  reached  its  high-tide 
and  soon  was  to  begin  recession. 

The  two  Federalist  measures,  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts, 
were  passed  by  Congress  in  June  and  July  of  the  preceding  sum- 
mer. The  alarm  of  war  had  excluded  them  from  any  special  con- 
sideration in  North  Carolina  until  near  the  end  of  the  year. 
The  Republican  counter-stroke,  planned  in  the  brain  of  Jefferson, 
was  now  delivered  in  the  famous  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolu- 
tions. 

The  Federalist  tone  of  the  North  Carolina  legislature  at  the 
beginning  of  the  session  was  noted  in  a  preceding  paragraph, 
together  with  its  choice  of  Davie  as  governor  on  December  4.     On 


69  Tn  North  Carolina  the  governor  was  chosen  annually  by  the  General 
Assembly  up  to  the  reform  of  the  Constitution  in  1835.  After  that  date  he 
was  chosen  by  the  people  biennially. 

70McRee,  II.,  537.    To  Iredell. 


r.? 


James  Sprv.nt  Historical  Pvblications 


December  21,  the  Kentucky  Resolutions71  were  laid  before  the  body. 
The  situation  was  very  accurately  portrayed  in  the  words  of  John- 
ston on  the  23rd:72  "An  address  to  the  President  has  been  for  some 
days  before  the  House  of  Commons  without  being  acted  on,  and  I 
fear  will  come  to  nothing,  though  I  believe  it  would  pass  the  Sen- 
ate without  opposition.  Two  or  three  days  ago  the  Governor73  laid 
before  the  House  of  Commons  a  string  of  resolves  from  Kentucky, 
prefaced  with  a  most  indecent  and  violent  phillipic  on  the  meas- 
ures of  the  General  Government'  The  Commons  sent  them  up  to 
the  Senate  who,  after,  icith  great  impatience,  hearing  them  read, 
ordered  them  to  lie  on  the  table;  and  I  believe,  in  the  temper  they 
were  then  in,  might  easily  have  been  prevailed  on  to  have  them 
thrown  into  the  fire,  which  was  proposed  in  whispers   by  several 

near  me."     Again  on  the  24th:    "After  I  wrote  you 

a  resolve  came  up  to  the  Senate  proposing  to  give  it  in  charge  to 
our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  to  use  their  influence 
to  procure  the  repeal  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  which  was 
rejected  by  the  yeas  and  nays — 31  to  8."  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  however,  that  Johnston  spoke  as  a  member  of  the  Senate — 
a  body  chosen  by  freehold  suffrage  in  North  Carolina  and  hence 
less  reflective  of  public  sentiment  than  the  popular  branch  chosen 
by  free  manhood  suffrage.  In  fact  the  Republicans  in  the  lower 
house  were  now  able  to  bind  to  themselves  a  sufficient  number  of 
wavering  Federalists  to  give  them  control.  Hence  on  the  24th  of 
December  the  Commons,  disregarding  the  Senate,  passed  strong 
resolutions74  against  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  and  ordered  them 
forwarded  to  the  State's  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress 
with  implied  instructions  to  vote  for  their  repeal. 

71  The  Kentucky  Resolutions  preceded  those  of  Virginia  in  point  of  tame. 
Both  affirmed  the  sovereign  character  of  the  states;  that  each  state  was  its 
own  final  judge  as  to  the  infractions  of  the  Constitution  by  the  federal  gov- 
ernment; and  that  whenever  the  latter  assumed  undelegated  powers  its  acts 
were  unauthoritative,  void,  and  of  no  force. 

72  McRee,  II.,  542.  To  Iredell. 

73  Samuel  Ashe,  a  Republican,  was  then  governor  and  would  give  place  to 
Davie  January  1,  1799. 

74  Journal  of  the  N.  C.  House  of  Commons,  1798,  pp.  75-77. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  33 

A  further  evidence  of  the  rapid  decline  of  Federalist  strength  in 
this  legislature,  due  to  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts,  was  their 
failure  to  choose  the  United  States  senator  to  succeed  Alexander 
Martin,  whose  term  was  to  expire  March,  1799.  Martin  had  been 
chosen  as  a  Republican  in  1793  and  had  given  no  grounds  for  par- 
ty complaint  until  1798  when  he  had  voted  for  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  Acts.  He  was  now  a  candidate  for  re-election,  evidently 
having  reasoned  that  the  legislature,  under  war  pressure,  would  be 
pro-administration  and  thus  his  re-election  assured .  His  plan  was 
almost  successful,  for  the  Federalists,  though  having  a  first  choice75 
of  their  own,  were  eventually  willing  to  accept  him76  in  lieu  of  an 
anti-administration  Republican.  But  when  matters  had  been 
to  a  crisis  by  the  Kentucky  Resolutions  the  Republicans  in  the 
Commons  not  only  repudiated  Martin  but  determined  upon  his 
political  death.  A  sharp  struggle  ensued  from  which  the  Republi- 
cans emerged  with  new  strength,  having  effected  the  election  of 
Jesse  Franklin,  lately  a  member  of  Congress,  and  a  rock-ribbed 
Republican  of  the  Nathaniel  Macon  type. 

With  Davie  inaugurated  as  governor,  January  1,  1799,  the 
Federalists,  backed  by  his  prestige,  made  one  more  effort  to  assert 
control  over  the  renegade  members  of  their  party  in  the  lower 
house.  A  measure  was  brought  forward  to  transfer  the  choice  of 
presidential  electors  from  the  people  to  the  legislature.  This  plan 
was  unquestionably  designed  in  preparation  for  the  approaching 
presidential  election  of  1800.77  If  carried  into  effect  it  would 
offset  the  popular  favor  of  Jefferson  and  probably  enable  the  Fed- 
eralists, backed  by  the  administration's  patronage  and  influence, 
to  cast  the  vote  of  the  state  for  the  Federalist  candidate,  presum- 
ably Adams      The  party  whip  was  vigorously  used  and  all  the  in- 

75  Alfred  Moore  was  the  Federalist  candidate.  Failing  of  senatorial  hon- 
ors he  was  chosen  for  the  State  bench  and  in  1799,  upon  the  death  of  Judge 
Iredell,  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court. 

76  McRee,  II.,  540.    Johnston  to  Iredell. 

77  Cf.  Dodd,  Life  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  161.  North  Carolina  was  one  of 
the  three  States  in  the  Union  at  this  date  which  chose  their  presidential  elec- 
tors by  the  district  system. 


34  James  Sjrrunt  Historical  Publications 

fluence  of  Samuel  Johnston  and  Governor  Davie  was  exerted  with- 
out avail.  The  lower  house  effectually  balked  the  plan  and  would 
have  none  of  it. 

Though  somewhat  discouraged  by  now  the  Federalists  still 
adroitly  used  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  French  war-cloud  as  a 
plea  for  party  loyalty.  But  as  the  first  half  of  the  year  waned  and 
Adams  still  vacillated  with  respect  to  his  French  policy  they  began 
to  lay  the  more  stress  upon  the  dangerous  disunion  tendencies  set 
in  motion  by  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions.  This  argu- 
ment possessed  a  certain  potency  in  North  Carolina  because  there 
the  habit  was  still  strong  of  attaching  large  importance  to  Vir- 
ginia's actions  and  in  that  state  politics  was  in  a  ferment.  Janu- 
ary 24,  1798,  Judge  Iredell  wrote  that  the  Virginia  Assembly  was 
pursuing  steps  which  would  lead  directly  to  civil  war,  that  a  re- 
spectable minority  was  still  struggling  in  defense  of  the  General 
Government,  and  that  the  Government  itself  was  fully  prepared 
and  resolved,  if  necessary,  to  oppose  force  to  force.78  Even  Gov- 
ernor Davie  himself,  to  the  middle  of  the  summer,  believed79  that 
it  was  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  Virginia  Republicans  to  break 
away  from  the  Union,  with  the  expectation  that  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Southern  States  would  follow.  This  concern  over  the  domes- 
tic situation  unquestionably  exerted  a  strong  influence  in  North 
Carolina,  an  influence  that  did  not  lose  its  force  until  the  crisis  of 
the  next  presidential  election  was  safely  passed  .8o 

In  the  meantime  the  Federalists  in  North  Carolina  lost  their 
original  leverage — the  war  scare.  Adams  had  suddenly  faced  about 
and  determined  to  send  a  new  commission  to  France.  The  Fed- 
eralist spokesmen  in  the  State  all  opposed  this  sudden  change  in 
the  administration's  policy.  Johnston  said:8'  '' It  appears  to  me 
very  extraordinary  that  the  President  should  at  this  time  appoint 
ministers  to  treat   with   the   French    Republic, -  -  at 

78  McEee,  II.,  543. 

79  Ibid.  II.,  577.    Davie  to  Iredell,  June  17,  1709. 

80  The  fact  that  Adams  received  four  elector  votes  in  Nortli  Carolina  the 
next  year,  when  Federalism  was  already  much  weakened  in  the  state,  seems 
due  to  this  influence. 

81  McRee,  II.,  550.  To  Iredell,  March  23,  1799. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  35 

the  same  time  I  cannot  assume  to  censure  the  President's  meas- 
ures, as  it  is  not  probable  that  the  public  are  in  possession  of  the 
whole  of  his  information."  John  Steele,  an  equally  ardent  North 
Carolina  Federalist,  Washington's  appointee  as  first  Comptroller  of 
the  Treasury,  and  still  in  office  under  Adams,  was  less  conserva- 
tive in  his  criticism.  He  said:82  "I  confess  I  do  not  forbode  any 
good  from  it  [the  embassy] ,  and  on  that  account  lament  that  the 
measure  has  been  adopted.  Three  solemn  embassies,  composed  of 
our  most  distinguished  citizens,  to  be  obliged  to  go  to  Paris  in  suc- 
cession, to  beg  peace  and  reconciliation  with  a  government  whose 
enmity  is  now  unanimously  considered  less  dangerous  than  their 
friendship,  may  serve  to  show  our  passion  for  humility  and  sub- 
mission ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  think  that  as  a  Nation  our  honor 
can  be  preserved  or  our  interests  forwarded  by  such  condescen- 
sions." Even  Governor  Davie,  who  was  tendered  and  accepted  an 
appointment  upon  the  commission,83  likewise  had  uneasy  forbod- 
dings  relative  to  the  wisdom  of  the  mission.  September  18,  he 
wrote  to  Iredell:84  "The  appointment  of  Envoy  is  highly  honor- 
able to  me  and,  under  any  other  circumstances,  would  have  been 
certainly  agreeable;  but  the  unknown  and  ever-varying  situation 
of  the  Government  to  which  we  are  addressed,  its  strange,  unpar- 
allelled  character  and  unsettled  policy,  furnish  no  data  upon  which 
we  can  calculate  the  issue  of  our  mission,  and  must  cast  the  repu- 
tation of  those  concerned  in  it  entirely  upon  chance;  and  your 
sensibility  will  easily  anticipate  the  anxiety  I  feel  under  these  cir- 
cumstances." 

The  adroit  use  the  Republicans  made  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition 
Acts,  the  course  of  President  Adams  in  the  crisis  with  France  and, 
above  all,  the  removal  of  Davie  at  such  a  critical  juncture  in  Fed- 
eralist affairs  in  North  Carolina,  constituted  together  a  death-blow 
to  Federalist  hopes  in  the  State.     We  have  seen  the  effects  of  the 

82  Ibid,  II.,  580.    To  Iredell,  Aug.  5,  1799. 

83  This  second  commission  of  Adams'  was  composed  of  Oliver  Ellsworth. 
William  Vans  Murray,  and  Davie.  The  latter  was  appointed  to  fill  the  third 
place  after  its  declination  by  Patrick  Henry,  of  Virginia. 

84  McRee,  II.,  584.  Thirty-two  days  after  the  date  of  Davie's  letter, 
Judge  Iredell  died. 


36  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

first  two  influences  and  it  takes  only  a  glance  at  the  third  to  gauge 
its  importance.  Davie  was  at  this  date  by  far  the  most  influential 
Federalist  in  the  State.  His  work  until  now  had  been  done  in  the 
main  as  a  member  of  the  popular  branch  of  the  legislature  in 
which  he  exerted  great  personal  influence  upon  men  of  both  par- 
ties. As  governor  this  influence  was  increased  rather  than  decreas- 
ed. He  was  in  a  position  to  greatly  strengthen  his  party.  Had 
he  not  been  removed  from  this  post  by  the  appointment  to  Fiance 
he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  retained  as  chief  executive 
for  three  consecutive  terms.  This  was  the  practice  in  North  Caro- 
lina even  though  the  election  was  annual.  But  upon  his  accep- 
tance of  Adams'  tender,  his  followers  fell  into  a  panic  and  the 
Republicans  of  the  lower  house  were  able,  on  joint  ballot  with  the 
senate,  to  force  the  election  of  a  Republican  successor.85  There 
was  no  able  Federalist  of  state-wide  reputation,  except  Samuel 
Johnston  to  take  Davie's  place  and  Johnston  was  not  now  either 
temperamentally  or  by  inclination  fitted  for  the  arduous  task.86 
The  strongest  of  the  remainder  of  the  old  band  of  Federalist  lead- 
ers who  had  fought  so  stubbornly  for  the  union  of  the  states  were 
either  dead87,  or  had  received  federal  appointments  under  Wash- 
ington and  Adams,88  or  were  soon  to  receive  such  appointments  at 
the  hands  of  a  Republican  president89  who  was  astute  enough  to 
adopt  this  plan  in  order  to  conciliate  and  reconcile  them  to  the 
Republican  regime  that  begun  in  1800. 

In  the  presidential  election  of  1800  the  North  Carolina  Federal- 
ists succeeded  in  naming  four  Adams  electors,  a  number  equal    to 

85  Benjamin  Williams,  of  Moore  County.  Williams  served  three  succes- 
sive terms  and  upon  retirement  was  followed  by  a  Republican. 

86  Johnston  was  now  on  the  eve  of  definite  retirement  from  public  service, 
yet  he  consented  in  1800  to  accept  an  appointment  to  the  Superior  Court 
bench  which  he  resigned  in  1803. 

87  James  Iredell  and  Archibald  Maclaine  were  dead. 

88  Iredell,  Davie,  John  Steele,  and  Alfred  Moore  were  the  most  notable 
North  Carolinians  that  received  federal  appointments  under  the  first  two 
presidents. 

89  Davie,  John  Steele  and  Benjamin  Hawkins  all  accepted  appointments 
from  President  Jefferson,  though  Davie  and  Steele  always  remained  steadfast 
Federalists. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  37 

that  of  their  representation  in  Congress.  Here,  apparently,  was 
evidence  that  the  party  was  holding  its  own.  But  the  result  did 
not  truthfully  indicate  the  real  state  of  the  party's  rapidly  declin- 
ing strength.  Federalist  principles  had  much  less  to  do  with  the 
result  than  did  the  fear  that  in  such  a  period  of  high  party  tension 
it  was  probably  unsafe  to  risk  the  country's  fortunes  in  the  hands 
of  an  untried  party.  To  many  the  Republican  party  had  seemed 
to  voice  a  distinct  threat  to  the  principle  of  union  in  the  Virginia 
and  Kentucky  Resolutions  and  the  danger  did  not  yet  appear  to 
be  entirely  past. 

When  it  became  known  in  February,  1801,  that  the  election  had 
resulted  in  a  tie  between  Jefferson  and  Burr  and  that  the  House  of 
Representatives  must  choose  between  these  two  Republican  candi- 
dates, the  Federalists  began  to  intrigue  with  Burr,  hoping  to  bind 
that  shifty  politician  to  their  interests  as  the  price  of  their  support 
of  his  candidacy.  It  is  a  familiar  story  how  Hamilton,  more  dis- 
trustful of  Burr  than  of  Jefferson,  defeated  the  plan  of  his  party 
with  such  tragic  results  to  himself.  In  North  Carolina  the  Fed- 
eralists, with  a  great  deal  of  unanimity,  refused  to  sanction  the 
original  plan  of  elevating  Burr  at  the  expense  of  Jefferson,  though 
the  latter  was  scarcely  more  attractive  to  them.  Davie  wrote:90 
"The  Federalists  own  the  destruction  of  the  constitution  as  an 
event  almost  certain  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ; 
and  as  to  the  administration  of  Mr.  Burr,  although  it  may  be  ener- 
getic, no  man  knows  what  course  it  may  take.  I  have  been  visited 
by  a  great  number  of  the  most  enlightened  friends  of  Government 
in  this  part  of  the  country  since  my  return  and  they  all  express 
an  insuperable  repugnance  to  the  election  of  Burr,  urging  his  want 
of  character,  etc."  Despite  this  general  repugnance  to  Burr  in 
North  Carolina  the  State's  four  Federalist  representatives  in  Con- 
gress, after  the  first  ballot,91  generally  voted92  for  Burr  during   the 

90  Sprunt  Monograph,  No.  7,  p.  43.  Davie  to  Steele,  Feb.  2,  1801. 
This  letter  was  written  from  Davie's  home,  Halifax. 

91  Annals  of  Cong  ,  6th  Cong.  1029.  The  six  Republican  members  invari- 
ably voted  for  Jefferson  from  the  first  to  the  last  ballot.  On  the  first  ballot 
three  of  the  Federalists  likewise  voted  for  Jefferson. 

92  Ibid,  1032. 


38  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

thirty  six  ballots  taken  before  Jefferson  was  elected.  Being  upon 
the  scene  of  action  they  proved  to  be  more  amenable  to  the  organi- 
zation whip  than  to  the  sentiment  of  their  constituents. 

Up  to  the  inauguration  of  the  Republican  administration  of  Jef- 
ferson on  March  4,  1801,  Federalism  in  North  Carolina,  though 
stimulated  by  federal  patronage  and  buoyed  up  by  the  encourage- 
ment of  three  consecutive  Federalist  administrations,  failed  to  de- 
velop power  to  control  more  than  a  respectable  minority  of  the 
State's  voters.  Now,  with  the  federal  government  Republican  in 
both  its  legislative  and  executive  branches  and  all  artificial  stimu- 
lus removed,  it  was  less  likely  that  Federalism  could  maintain 
itself  in  vigorous  life.  Nevertheless  the  Federalist  leaders  did  not 
yet  altogether  despair.  Four  of  the  State's  representatives  in  Con- 
gress were  still  Federalist  and  as  many  Federalist  electors  had  been 
chosen  in  1800.  Some  fortuitous  circumstance  might  yet  cause 
the  political  wind  to  veer  in  their  direction.  Surely  the  political 
barometer  at  the  date  of  Jefferson's  accession  indicated  squalls. 

Hence  it  was  with  this  feeling,  and  facing  such  a  situation,  that 
Davie  in  August,93  1801,  opened  up  a  correspondence  with  other 
Federalist  leaders94  for  the  purpose  of  formulating  some  plan  or 
plans  for  the  future  of  the  party  in  North  Carolina.  The  united 
efforts  of  Davie  and  his  like-minded  partymen  soon  materialized 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Raleigh  Minerva  as  the  party  organ — a 
help  the  Federalists  had  been  without  until  now — 1802.  This 
paper  was  to  be  subsidized  from  a  fund  made  up  by  voluntary  con- 
tributions of  Federalists  together  with  an  assessment  laid  upon  a 
coterie  of  Federalist  gentlemen  who  originated  the  plan.95  Its  end 
was  to  be  "the  noble  objects  of  suppressing  falsehood,  and  dis- 
seminating truth,  of  subverting  the  wild  and  visionary  projects  and 
opinions  of  Democracy  and  advocating  in  their  place  sound,  sub- 
stantial, and  practical  principles  of  Federalism." 

93  Davie  had  returned  from  France  in  January,  1801. 

94  Davie  to  John  Steele,  Sprunt  Monograph  No.  7,  p.  46.  Davie  Letters, 
Edited  by  Dr.  K.  P.  Battle. 

05  See  Letter  of  Duncan  Cameron  to  John  Moore,  September,  1802, 
quoted  from  Nathaniel  Macon  MSS.  by  W.  E.  Dodd  in  Life  of  Nathaniel 
Macon,  p.  178. 

96  Ibid,  179. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  39 

In  the  meantime  the  Federalists  of  North  Carolina  had  made  up 
a  real  political  issue  with  their  party  opponents  and  were  prepar- 
ing to  stand  or  fall  upon  it.  Thi*  was  over  the  question  as  to 
whether  the  State  legislature  rightfully  exercised  the  power  of  in- 
structing senators  and  representatives  in  Congress.  The  occasion 
was  the  dissent  with  which  the  four  Federalist  representatives  met 
the  Assembly'-  instructions  to  vote  for  the  repeal  of  the  federal 
Judiciary  Act  that  had  become  a  law  in  the  latter  part  of  the  ses- 
sion of  1801,  just  before  Adams'  term  of  office  expired.  By  it  the 
federal  Judiciary  system  had  been  greatly  extended  and  the  Fed- 
eralists had  made  themselves  berths  against  the  day  of  defeat. 
Adams  had  been  complaisant  enough  to  help  many  of  his  followers 
into  these  berths  during  the  last  days  of  his  administration.  With 
the  incoming  of  the  Republican  administration  of  Jefferson  his 
party  had  at  once  begun  an  agitation  for  the  repeal  of  the  new  act 
and  a  return  to  the  old  system.  Thus  not  only  would  the  new  fed- 
eral offices  be  abolished  and  the  new  Federalist  officers  deposed, 
but  the  greater  good  would  be  secured  of  delimiting  federal  authori- 
ty in  the  interest  of  State  rights  as  represented  by  the  state  judici- 
aries. The  Republican  legislature  of  North  Carolina  had  promptly 
supported  the  plan  for  repeal  and,  as  above  noted,  instructed  the 
senators  and  representative97  accordingly.  Archibald  Henderson, 
Federalist  representative  of  the  "Western,"  or  Salisbury  District, 
voiced  in  Congress  the  refusal  of  the  State's  four  Federalist  repre- 
sentatives to  be  instructed.98  This  had  been  the  position  of  North 
Carolina  Federalists  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and,  as 
has  been  noted  earlier  in  this  treatise,  had  proved  disastrous  to  a 
Federalist  senator  (Samuel  Johnston)  and  representatives  in  1793. 
So  likewise  in  the  congressional  election  of  1803,  the  recalcitrant 
representatives,  Archibald  Henderson,  W.  B.  Grove,  John  Stanly, 
and  William  H.  Hill  all  lost  their  seats,  each  being  displaced  by  a 
Republican  competitor  despite  the  fact  that  the  whole  strength  of 

97  The  senator?,  as  direct  representatives  of  the  State  through  its  legisla- 
lature,  were  instructed;  while  the  intimation  to  the  Representatives  was  con- 
veyed in  the  form  of  a  recommendation,  but  the  recommendation  was  intend- 
ed to  be  obligatory. 

98  Annals  of  Congress,  7th  Cong.,  1st  Sess. ,  530,  for  Henderson's  speech. 


40  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

their  party  was  arrayed  in  solid  phalanx  behind  them  on  the  in- 
struction issue.  At  the  same  time  the  influential  Davie  stood  for 
congressional  honors  and  went  down  to  defeat  on  the  same  issue. 
With  this  disasterous  overturn  in  1803  the  Federalist  party  organi- 
zation was  practically  crushed  and  was  never  again  successfully 
rehabilitated. 

Meanwhile  a  second  form  of  attack  had  been  launched  against 
Federalism  in  North  Carolina  which  was  even  more  insidious  in  its 
influence  than  either  the  frontal  or  flank  assaults  of  the  Republi- 
cans. This  was  a  plan  whereby  President  Jefferson  purposed  to 
use  the  federal  patronage  in  part  to  pick  off  the  ablest  Federalist 
leaders  and  thus  to  ally  them  by  interest  to  the  new  regime.  The 
same  plan  was  pursued  by  Jefferson  in  other  states  and,  in  some,  it 
had  greater  direct  influence  upon  Federalism  than  in  North  Caro- 
lina; but  there  it  effectuality  prevented  the  party's  ranks  from  suc- 
cessfully reforming. 

Nathaniel  Macon,  probably  the  staunchest  Republican  in  Con- 
gress, and  member  of  that  body  since  1791,  became  Jefferson's 
dispenser"  of  federal  patronage  in  1801 .  Macon  at  first  wished  to 
make  the  test  of  Republicanism  the  standard  by  which  officers 
were  chosen  but  was  soon  led  by  the  astute  Jefferson  not  to  enter 
upon  a  proscriptive  policy  toward  the  better  known  and  most 
influential  Federalists.  With  this  plan  matured,  and  an  under- 
standing reached  between  Macon  and  Jefferson,  William  R.  Davie 
and  Benjamin  Hawkins  were  approached  in  June  1801,  and  offer- 
ed a  commission  with  General  James  Wilkinson  to  negotiate  with 
the  Southwestern  Indian  tribes.  Hawkins  at  once  accepted  and 
was  thereafter  lost  to  the  Federalist  party.  Davie  declined  but 
apparently  not  because  of  the  source  from  which  the  appointment 
came.  Extracts  from  his  correspondence100  at  this  date  throw  an 
interesting  light  upon  the  insidious  temptations  Jefferson  laid 
before  the  Federalists  in  North  Carolina  in  furtherance  of  his  plan 
to  eliminate  their  opposition  to  his  administration.     In  a  letter  to 


99  Dodd.  Life  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  169. 

100  Correspondence  of  Wrn.  R.  Davie,  Sprunt  Monograph,  No.  7.    Edited 
by  Dr.  K.  P.  Battle. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  41 

John  Steele,  dated  at  Halifax  on  August  3,  1801,' '"  he  said:  "My 
personal  engagements  oblige  me  to  be  stationary  here  till  the  loth 
of  October,  excepting  a  journey  to  Edenton  and  Petersburg,  and 
from  the  15th  of  October  to  the  last  of  November  I  had  engaged  to 
be  in  Chatham  and  South  Carolina;  so  that  it  was  impossible  for 
me  to  attend  any  of  the  treaties  for  which  I  was  appointed  a  Com- 
missioner. As  my  affairs,  therefore,  would  not  admit  of  any 
arrangement  that  could  enable  me  to  be  absent  until  December  my 
acceptance  was  at  once  out  of  the  question .  This  business  being 
then  decided  by  circumstances  over  which  I  had  no  control  left 
my  own  judgment  without  any  responsibility.  There  was,  how- 
ever, great  difference  of  opinion  among  my  friends  with  regard  to 
my  acceptance  of  the  appointment.  My  federal  friends  were  gen- 
erally violently  opposed  to  my  acceptance,  while  those  who  are 
attached  to  the  principles  of  the  present  administration  discovered 
great  anxiety  that  I  should  accept  the  appointment  and  attend 
some  of  the  treaties  at  least ;  it  is  unnecessary  to  trouble  you  with 
their  reasons,  you  will  not  be  mistaken  in  their  substance,  but  I 
entreat  you  to  give  me  your  sincere  opinion.  You  are  sensible  of 
the  high  esteem  I  have  for  your  judgment,  and  the  manner  in 
which  I  appreciate  your  friendship.  In  cases  of  this  kind  it  is  a 
matter  of  mere  chance  whether  a  man  forms  a  correct  judgment 
himself  and  therefore  ought  to  rest  implicitly  on  the  judgment  of 
his  best  informed  friends."102  What  Steele's  reply  was  we  have  no 
definite  means  of  knowing;  but  certainly  Davie  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  there  was  nothing  inconsistent  with  his  Federalist 
principles  in  the  acceptance  of  a  commission  from  the  Republican 
President.  The  very  next  year  he  was  appointed  upon  and  ac- 
cepted a  commission  to  treat  with  the  remnant  of  the  Tuscarora 
tribe  left  in  North  Carolina  and  successfully  completed  the  task. 
Nevertheless  in  the  instance  of  Davie,  Jefferson's  plan  never  achiev- 
ed its  evident  object,  for  Davie  never  regarded  himself  as  in  any 
Avay  committed  to  any  support  of  the  Republican  party.  He 
remained  a  harsh  critic  of  the  government,  vehemently  condemned 
the  repeal  of  the  "mid-night"  Judiciary  Act,  and   expressed   the 

101  The  appointment  had  been  made  in  June. 

102  Sprunt  Monograph  Xo.  7,  p.  46.    Davie  Correspondence. 


42  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

view103  that  soon  there  would  be  no  other  than  the  Lilliputian  ties 
of  the  public  debt  to  hold  the  States  together.  Likewise,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  1803  he  was  engaged  in  an  endeavor  to  reform  the 
broken  ranks  of  the  Federalist  party  and  stood  for  Congress  only 
to  meet  defeat.  It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  and  the  purity 
of  his  political  methods  that  in  this  campaign  he  took  occasion  to 
clearly  advertise  to  his  prospective  constituents  that  he  never  had 
and  never  would  surrender  his  principles  to  opinions  of  any  man 
or  set  of  men,  either  in  or  out  of  power;  and  that  he  wished  no 
man  to  vote  for  him  who  was  not  willing  to  leave  him  free  to  pur- 
sue the  good  of  his  country  according  to  his  best  judgment.*04  He 
seems  to  have  feared  that  some  Republican  voters  might  be  misled 
as  to  his  principles  by  the  fact  that  he  had  accepted  certain 
vice  under  a  Republican  President.  After  his  defeat  in  1803  the 
Republican  administration  ceased  to  woo  him.  He  never  receiv- 
ed public  employment  again,  but  retained  a  lively  interest  in  pub- 
lic affairs.  He  retired  in  1805  to  an  estate  he  owned  at  Lands- 
ford,  South  Carolina,  but  kept  up  a  continuous  correspondance 
with  his  Federalist  friends  in  North  Carolina.  Never  softening 
toward  Jefferson  and  his  administration,  he  nevertheless  had  high 
hopes  of  President  Madison,  due  likely  to  the  old  position  in  which 
Madison  had  stood  at  the  formation  of  the  government.  January 
4,  1810,  he  wrote  to  John  Steele105  while  the  country  was  still 
smarting  under  the  effects  of  the  embargo  and  non -intercourse 
policy  inherited  from  Jefferson's  term:  "I  sincerely  believe  he 
[President  Madison]  is  a  man  of  great  virtue.  We  all  know  he 
has  sense  and  the  experience  of  many  years  in  public  life,  and 
they  now  say  he  has  more  promptitude  and  decision  than  any  man 
who  ever  filled  the  presidential  chair.     May  God  grant   that    this 

103  Ibid,  52. 

104  Ibid,  55. 

105  Steele  likewise  had  been  an  object  of  Jefferson's  wooing.  He  had  been 
appointed  Comptroller  of  the  United  States  Treasury  by  Washington,  which 
office  he  continued  to  fill  through  Adam's  term  and  was  undisturbed  in  his 
tenure  by  Jefferson  who  had  Macon  to  urge  him  to  retain  the  post,  finally 
himself  requesting  it.  Steele  did  so  until  the  fall  of  1802,  In  that  year,  in- 
fluenced by  political  propriety,  he  resigned  and  retired  to  private  life. 
Dodd,  Life  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  180. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  43 

may  be  true!  Our  affairs  may  yet  do  well."'c  Nevertheless 
when  Madison's  administration  in  1812  drifted  into  war  with 
England  instead  of  with  France,  Davie  lost  all  faith  in  the  Presi- 
dent and  reverted  to  his  old  unyielding  Federalist  position.  When 
the  discontent  of  the  New  England  States  with  the  administration's 
policy  and  its  conduct  of  the  war  had  culminated  in  their  seces- 
sion movement  and  the  Hartford  Convention,  Davie  wrote:107  "*  * 
*  *  the  movement  in  the  New  England  States  and  the  monstrous 
strides  towards  despotism  made  by  the  party  in  power  have  so 
stunned  and  astounded  me  that  I  know  not  what  to  say  or  write. 
It  really  appears  to  me  that  the  present  confederacy  will  not  last 
two  years  more  and  that  Mr.  Madison  will  finish  his  career  amidst 
the  ruins  of  his  country."  In  1814,  however,  the  Madison  ad- 
ministration effected  a  peace  with  England  in  time  to  save  the 
Republican  party  from  disruption  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  thor- 
oughly effect  the  discredit  of  Federalism  in  its  stronghold,  the  New 
England  States.  Despairingly  Davie  wrote  to  his  friend  Steele: 
"So  infatuated  are  the  people  it  is  astonishing  how  little  populari- 
ty they  [the  Republican  party]  have  lost  by  their  mismanagement 
and  blunders."'  In  North  Carolina  Federalism  had  been  dead 
since  1803  for  all  practical  party  purposes  except  as  a  cloak  for  the 
"West"  in  its  slowly  reviving  movement  against  the  dominance  of 
the  "East"  in  State  politics/09 


106  Davie  Cor.  Sprunt  Monograph,  No.  7,  65. 

107  Ibid,  71,  Davie  to  John  Steele,  Nov.  29,  1814. 

108  Ibid,  75.     Feb.  4,  1814. 

109  See  the  Author's  State  Rights  and  Political  Parties  in  North  Carolina, 
1776-1861,  page  61,  et  seq.  for  further  information  on  the  political  differences 
between  the  "East"  and  the  "West"  in  N.  C. 


III.  Conclusion 

The  foregoing  slight  study  of  Federalism  in  North  Carolina  has 
led  the  author  to  the  following  conclusions: 

1.  That  the  demand  for  a  reorganization  of  the  Confederacy  in 
1787-88  was  not  of  itself  strong  enough  in  North  Carolina  to  cause 
the  State  to  ratify  the  Constitution;  that  such  ratification,  effected 
in  1789,  was  the  result  of  the  State's  isolated  position,  the  old 
Confederacy  having  been  automatically  dissolved  by  the  adoption 
of  the  new  Constitution  in  eleven  of  the  old  States. 

2.  That  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  by  North  Caro- 
lina, Federalism,  as  representing  a  body  of  political  principles 
meaning,  in  essence,  centralization  of  powers  in  the  federal  gov- 
ernment, was  of  slow  growth  in  the  State  and  was  never  really 
dominant  in  its  affairs. 

3.  That  only  when  the  principle  of  union  was  threatened  did 
Federalism  receive  an  accession  of  strength ,  the  danger  never  last- 
ing long  enough  to  really  ensconce  the  party  in  power.  Such  tem- 
porary increase  of  strength  came  to  North  Carolina  Federalism 
during  the  excitement  aroused  by  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  and 
the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  Resolutions;  likewise  during  the  pre- 
parations in  1798  for  war  with  France;  and,  again,  in  1800,  when 
the  presidential  election  of  that  year  seemed  for  a  time  to  portend 
a  disruption  of  the  Union. 

4.  That  when  the  Federalist  party's  control  of  the  federal  gov- 
ernment was  broken  by  Adams'  defeat  in  1800,  and  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Union  began  to  seem  assured,  Federalism  in  North  Carolina 
almost  immediately  disappeared,  soon  ceasing  to  maintain  even 
the  semblance  of  a  party  organization. 


LETTERS  OF  WILLIAM  BARRY  GROVE 


EDITED  BY 


Henry  McGilbert  Wagstaff 


LETTERS  OF  WILLIAM  BARRY  GROVE 


Herewith  are  presented  some  letters,  hitherto  unpublished,  of 
William  Barry  Grove  to  James  Hogg.  Grove,  a  native  of  Fayette- 
ville,  represented  his  district  in  Congress  from  1791  to  1803.  His 
friend  and  correspondent,  James  Hogg,  a  merchant,  formerly 
resided  in  Fayetteville  also,  doing  business  in  that  town  and  in 
Wilmington.  At  the  date  of  this  correspondence  he  lived  in  Hills- 
boro.  The  letters  cover  the  decade  1792-1802.  Since  they  are 
few  in  number  and  scattered  irregularly  through  the  period  they 
should  be  used  only  in  connection  with  the  Grove  Letters  (also  to 
James  Hogg)  which  have  been  edited  and  published  by  Dr.  K.  P. 
Battle  in  the  Sprunt  Monograph  No.  3,  1902.  These  cover  the 
same  period  and  are  complementary  to  those  herewith  presented. 
It  is  believed  that  the  two  series  together  make  up  the  complete 
list  of  Grove's  letters  to  Hogg  while  a  member  of  Congress,  The 
whole  collection  should  prove  valuable,  historically,  in  that  they 
portray  the  feelings  and  actions  of  a  Southern  Federalist  at  a  time 
of  high  party  tension  in  our  national  councils ;  this  aside  from 
their  value  as  giving  a  more  or  less  intimate  view  of  the  problems 
confronting  the  federal  government,  its  hopes  and  fears,  during  the 
infancy  of  the  Republic. 

For  an  extended  sketch  of  both  Grove  and  Hogg  see  the  James 
Sprunt  Historical  Monograph  No.  3,  1902. 


To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  20th  Apl,  1792. 
Dear  Sir 

The  Session  is  drawing  to  a  close  &  I  hope  the  time  is  near  at 
hand  when  I  shall  see  all  my  friends  in  Carolina,  nevertheless  as 
Mr.  Hunt'  is  going  immediately  to  Hillsboro  I  cant   omit   writing 

1  Probably  Mem  wan  Hunt,  of  Granville,  member  of  the  first  North  Caro- 
lina Provincial  Congress  which  met  at  Newbern  August  25,  1774  to  organize 


48  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

you  a  few  lines  on  the  subject  of  Locks — Canals  &c ;  I  have  agree- 
ably to  your  desire2  made  particular  enquiry  respecting  the  form 
and  materials  proposed  for  Locks  to  be  used  in  the  navigation  in 
this  State,  and  from  all  I  can  learn  either  from  a  model  which  1 
have  examined,  or  the  conversation  of  some  persons  here  who  are 
skilled  in  that  kind  of  work,  our  Lock  gate  &c.  is  on  exactly  the 
same  plan  &  principles,  We  only  differ  as  to  the  materials  for  the 
Lock,  Stone  is  plenty  here  and  to  be  used  altogether —  I  refer  you 
to  the  papers  for  the  Political  news;  in  one  of  these  you  will  see  a 
communication  between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Hammond3  res- 
pecting the  operation  and  intention  of  a  certain  clause  of  the  Brit- 
ish Navigation  act:  I  judge  some  neg relations  are  going  on  between 
The  Plenipo.  and  The  Secry.  the  nature  of  which  are  unknown; 
some  private  inquireys  have  been  made  by  the  Secry.  of  the  Dele- 
gation of  No.  C.  which  induces  this  belief  in  me,  I  wish  they  may 
terminate  to  the  interest*  and  satisfaction  of  both  Countries. 

1  apprehend  that  nothing  can  be  done  this  Session  in  Western 
Land  Business,4  or  indeed  with  the  Merchants  Memor.,5  both  sub- 
jects are  attended  with  circumstances  perplexing  to  Congress — 
You  may  have  heard  that  the  L.  House  is  to  be  finished,  and  that 

resistance  to  England ;  also  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  that  met  at 
Halifax,  November  12,  1776,  and  formed  the  State  Constitution. 

2  Hogg  was  a  member  of  the  North  Carolina  Canal  Company  organized 
and  chartered  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  Cape  Fear  River  navigable  to 
the  junction  of  the  Haw  and  Deep  rivers  in  the  county  of  Chatham.  It  was 
a  visionary  scheme  and  part  of  the  general  plan  of  canal  construction 
which  amounted  almost  to  a  rage  at  this  date,  1790-1800.  Set1  McMaster'B 
History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  II.,  74-75. 

3  British  Minister  to  the  United  States.  Jefferson  was  Secretary  of  State 
in  Washington's  first  cabinet. 

4  James  Hogg,  Grove's  correspondent,  was  a  member  of  the  Transylvania 
Land  Company  which  assumed  to  buy  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  an  immense 
tract  of  country  making  up  a  part  of  the  present  states  of  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee, hence  he  was  vitally  interested  in  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indians' 
claims  by  the  U.  S.  Government.  A  petition  from  the  company  to  this  end 
rested  before  Congress  in  1792-93.  The  sale  was  finally  declared  illegal  by 
the  States  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  though  at  the  same  time  the  com" 
pany  was  allowed  a  compensation  of  200,000  acres  by  way  of  compromise. 

5  North  Carolina  merchants  had  suffered  the  loss  of  a  certain  cargo,  in 
part  slaves,  that  bad  drifted  ashore  upon  one  of  the  Bahamas  and  there  con- 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  49 

the  District  Fedl.  Court  is  to  sit  at  Wilmington  alternately  wh. 
Newbern  &  Edenton.  The  Indian  business6  has  made  it  neces- 
sary to  increase  the  duties  on  importation  1\  p  Ct. ;  I  suspect  in 
these  kind  of  matters  two  &•  two  will  not  always  make  four:  I  con- 
fess I  think  commerce  is  already  pretty  well  hurthened.  Be  so 
good  as  remember  me  to  all  friends  in  and  about  Hillsboro. 
I  am 

Dear  Sir 

with  respect  &  Esteem 

Your  very  Hum  St 

W.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  Jany.  21st,  1795 
Dear  Sir 

About  a  fortnight  ago  the  Deeds  &  papers  respect- 
ing your  Indian  purchase  came  fo rward,  &  at  same  time  I  reed, 
yours  of  the  first  Decemr.  on  the  subject1 — the  first  opportunity 
was  embraced  to  bring  forward  the  Petition  &c  they  were  referred 
as  usual  to  a  Committee  viz  Mr.  Smith  S.  Carolina,  Mr.  Blount,2 
Mr  Carnes  Georgia,  &  two  others  who  reported  they  conceived  the 
claim  of  the  Transylvania  Company's  rested  on  the  same  grouud 
&  principle  that  other  claims  for  Lands  in  our  Western    Country, 

fiscated  by  the  British  authorities.  The  parties  interested  in  the  merchan- 
dise petitioned  Congress  to  secure  compensation  but  seem  never  to  have  been 
successful. 

6  The  Western  Indians  defeated  General  St.  Clair  on  the  Wabash  River  in 
the  Northwest  Territory,  Nov.  3,  1791,  causing  general  alarm  in  the  whole 
western  country.  To  provide  a  war  fund  Congress  increased  the  duties  on 
imports  and  sent  out  Mad  Anthony  Wayne  to  chastise  the  Indians. 

1  Hogg's  interest  in  the  Transylvania  Land  Company  has  been  explained 
in  a  former  note.  Grove  was  a  warm  advocate  of  the  claims  of  the  Com- 
pany. This  letter  within  itself  very  clearly  outlines  the  nature  of  the  Com- 
pany's claims  and  the  nature  of  its  activities  up  to  1795. 

2  Thomas  Blount,  member  of  Congress  from  North  Carolina  1793-1799; 
1803-1809;  1811-1812.  He  was  a  brother  of  Wm.  Blount  of  Tennessee,  sena- 
tor from  that  state  and  expelled  by  the  senate  July  8,  1797,  for  exciting  hos- 
tile incursions  against  Spain  in  the  Louisiana  Territory. 


50  James  Spnmt  Historical  Publications 

which  had  been  ceded  to  theUn.  States,  &  therefore  Hint  the  Peti- 
tion &c.  of  the  Compy.  should  he  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the 
whole  House  who  had  under  consideration  the  Subject  of  the  Peti- 
tion of  Thomas  Person3  &  others  with  certain  Resolutions  of  the 
North  Carolina  Legislature — Mr  Macon4  &  myself  were  of  a  differ- 
ent opinion,  &  he  stated  the  reasons  why  the  claims  of  the  Com- 
pany &  other  holders  of  Land  in  the  Western  Country  differed 
from  each  other  in  some  important  points;  but  they  were  referred 
without  any  Special  Reports  and  are  now  before  the  Committee  of 
the  whole  House  with  the  other  claims  of  our  State  for  Lands  in 
the  Territory  ceeded  to  the  Cherokees;  What  the  fate  of  the  busi- 
ness will  be  is  quite  uncertain,  tho  I  assure  you,  I  fear  not  favour- 
able. 

An  opinion  is  very  generally  entertained  here  that  North  Caro- 
lina had  no  good  right  to  sell  those  Lands  untill  the  Indian  rights 
had  been  fairly  purchased,  or  extinguished,  and  the  Members  from 
the  State  are  not  in  possession  of  any  Document  to  prove  that  has 
been  done,  since  the  Treaty  held  by  authority  of  the  State  at  Long 
Island  of  Holstein  in  May  1777 — whereby  the  Indians  seem  to 
have  been  much  favoured  by  the  Boundary  lines.  &  Treated  with 
as  a  Free  cC'  Independent,  People —  That  Treaty  of  1777  &  the  Hope- 
well Treaty  were  less  favourable  to  the  Whites,  than  the  late 
Treaty  at  Holstein  by  Govr.  Blount,  and  therefore  say  many  of 
the  Members  of  Congress  the  right  of  the  Company's  purchase  in 
1775  was  affected  by  the  Treaty  of  No.  Carolina  in  1777,  and 
therefore  No.  C.  should  settle  the  affair  with  the  Company,  &  tli.it 
the  grant  from  the  State  to  the  Hoy,  in  1783-4  for  200,000  acres  of 
that  Land  which  the  State  had  actually  in  1777  guaranteed  by 
Treaty  to  the  Cherokees,  could  not  be  a  good  grant,  untill  the  In- 
dian boundaries  was  altered  by  Treaty  to  include  that  Land  ;  or 
untill  the  State  had  some  better  right  to  it  than  a  Law  (of  one 
party  only)  — 

It  is  true  we  have  no  evidence  of  consent  on  the  part  of  the   In- 


3  Thomas  Person,  of  Granville,  likewise  had  a  state  grant  of  land  in  the 
limits  of  the  present  State  of  Tennessee. 

4  Nathaniel  Macon,  M.  C.  from  North  Carolina,  was  the  leader  of  the 
Republican  party  in  North  Carolina  and  exceedingly  influential  in  Conj 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  51 

dians  to  renlenguish  any  part  of  the  Lands  secured  to  them  in 
1777 —  and  here  we  must  insist  on  the  right  c(-  Custom  of  Conquest 
after  77,  in  consequence  of  a  Violation  on  the  part  of  theCherokees 
of  that  very  Treaty  of  1777  \  &  urge  the  Law  of  No  Carolina  passed 
in  1783 —  for  opening  the  Land  office  &  declaring  the  Indian 
boundaries  &  hunting  grounds —  as  the  terms  of  the  Conquerers — 
that  this  Law  is  neither  against  the  Laws  of  Justice  or  Nations, 
that  tis  only  taking  into  possession  &  preparing  for  Cultivation  a 
Territory  within  the  Chartered  Limits  of  the  Slate  not  actually 
occupied  by  Men —  &  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  War  against 
the  Natives  who  were  leagued  with  the  Common  Enemy —  that 
regard  &  proper  attention  to  the  Natives  are  not  neglected  in  as 
much  as  a  tract  of  Country  nearly  200  miles  by  40  is  reserved  for 
them  including  nearly  all  their  actual  places  of  residence  &c  &c 
etc —  I  cannot  here  omit  saying  that  in  my  opinion  the  State  of 
No.  C.  had  it  fully  in  her  power  before  the  Cession  to  Congress  to 
have  put  every  discussion  or  argument  of  this  Subject  out  of  the 
question —  That  Henderson  &  Co.  did  fairly  extinguish  the  Indian 
claims  to  the  Lands  named  in  the  Deeds  appears  to  me  clear 
enough,  but  whether  the  titles  to  these  lands  could  with  propriety 
Vest  in  them  is  a  question  I  cant  pretend  to  decide  fully —  if  the 
title  however  did  not  vest  in  them,  it  surely  did  in  the  Community 
or  State  of  which  they  were  Members  or  Citizens  Viz  No.  Ca.  and 
they  should  have  been  fully  it  generously  compensated  for  such 
eminent  Sendee  to  the  Community,  and  that  community  should 
have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  enterprize  of  their  fellow  Citi- 
zens—  but  I  believe  our  State  declared  the  purchase  of  the  Coy. 
Void,  and  did  not  pretend  to  derive  any  advantage  from  it —  this 
was  perhaps  wrong.  When  our  Troops  marched  into  &  subdued 
these  Cherokees  in  1776,  80  or  81 —  after  they  had  broken  the 
Treaty  of  1777  there  might  most  certainly  have  been  obtained  by 
Consent  (through/ear)  some  acknowledgment  from  them,  either 
that  they  would  remain  at  Peace  under  the  Protection  ofN.  Carolina, 
or  that  they  would  agree  the  line  fixed  in  1777  should  be  so  far 
altered  as  to  pay  for  the  expenses  of  the  War  with  Lands  to  the 
West  of  that  line —  Nothing  of  this  kind  was  done  on  the  part  of 
No.  C.  whilst  So.  Carolina  availed  herself  of  that  state  of  things  to 


52  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

substantiate  claims  for  some  of  her  Western  Country —  We  have  to 
encounter  with  another  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining  how  and 
where  the  several  treaty  lines  run,  &  those  lines  in  the  Compy's 
deed  on  Powell  &  Holstein  Rivers  to  point  out  the  part  &  probable 
quantity  of  Land  included  in  the  Cession  to  the  Cherokees  at  the 
late  Treaty —  We  have  a  map  of  the  So.  Ws.  Territory  made  by 
Doer.  Williamson5  from  materials  furnished  by  Genl  Smith  of 
Cumberland  as  tis  said,  but  all  persons  who  know  anything  of 
Powell  River,  Valley  &  mountains —  Holstein,  Cloud  Creek  &c  &c 
assert  that  the  Map  is  most  incorrect  as  respects  that  part  of  the 
Country  in  particular —  Which  you  will  see  is  a  great  misfortune 
as  in  that  quarter  all  the  Treaty  Boundaries  &  purchases  begin — 
and  it  is  in  that  country  where  the  Company's  200,000  acres  are 
granted —  I  think  your  grant  or  patent  should  have  been  forward- 
ed &  the  Law  of  the  State  granting  the  same —  It  being  private  is 
not  in  Iredells  Revisal  which  is  only  lately  discovered —  the  sever- 
al arguments  and  objections  which  I  have  stated  to  our  claims  & 
rights  are  only  those  which  in  private  conversation  have  been  off- 
ered, and  I  mention  them  to  give  you  some  idea  of  what  may  be 
expected  in  a  Public  discussion 

You  may  be  assured  that  all  the  Members  from  the  State  will  do 
what  they  can  towards  effecting  Justice  to  the  Company  &  all 
others  claiming  Lands  imder  the  State  But  between  ourselves  so 
great  and  important  a  Subject  should  have  very  able,  Learned  & 
Eloquent  advocates,  this  (again  between  ourselves,  as  you  don't 
know  it — )  is  Not  the  case  I  fear —  don't  suppose  I  mean  any 
demerit  to  the  Del n,6 1  am  certain  we  all  mean  well,  but  you 

5  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina,  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
Conventien  that  framed  the  Federal  Constitution ;  member  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation  from  1784  to  1787;  member  of  Congress  from  1790  to 
1793.  Dr.  Williamson  was  a  physician,  naturalist,  and  historian.  For  an 
extended  sketch  of  this  interesting  personality  see  Wheeler's  History  of  North 
Carolina,  II.,  91,  et  seq. 

6  Delegation  from  North  Carolina  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  Evidently 
Grove  wishes  to  transfer  the  burden  of  the  campany's  interests  from  the 
shoulders  of  the  North  Carolina  delegation  to  the  hands  of  counsel  paid  hy 
the  company :  yet  he  does  not  wish  it  to  appear  that  he  is  not  zealous  for  his 
constituents'  interests. 


James  Sprimt  Historical  Publications  53 

know  better  than  I  can  tell  you  what  one  might  say  of  us  all :  a 
Man  may  be  very  capable  of  judging  &  forming  a  tolerable  just  idea 
&  determination  on  a  subject  when  he  hears  all  the  arguments, 
takes  all  the  evidence  that  may  be  offered,  who  would  make  a  bad 
hand  of  stating  &  suming  up  all  these  arguments  with  decency — 
In  short  one  may  be  an  Excellent  Jury  man,  who  would  be  a  bad 
advocate  or  Lawyer —  and  a  number  of  reasons  seem  to  impress 
me  with  a  belief  that  the  subject  of  our  claims  are  more  properly 
a  Judicial  question,  than  a  matter  of  Legislative  interference,  in 
the  first  instance  Was  there  any  Court  Competent  to  the  Subject — 

You  shall  hear  from  me  as  soon  as  anything  is  done  in  this  busi- 
ness, &  therefore  shall  proceed  to  other  matters  of  Congressional 
deliberation  &c 

We  have  passed  a  Law  for  raising  the  pay  of  the  Militia  to  6  2-3 
Dollars  per  Month  when  called  into  service  I  hope  &  believe  there 
may  be  few  occations  to  trouble  them —  but  you  recollect  there 
was  much  uneasiness  on  this  subject  last  summer  in  our  State.7 
Some  further  Amendmants  are  proposed  to  the  Militia  Law —  in- 
cluding a  proposition  of  arming  those  Citizens  who  are  not  able  to 
purchase  &  equip  themselves  &c —  a  Bill  has  passed  our  House 
amending  the  Naturalization  Law,8  prolonging  the  time  of  Resi- 
dence to  5  years  before  Aliens  can  become  Citizens  and  to  make 
Noblemen  &  others  holding  titles  in  Europe  renounce  such  titles 
before  they  are  admitted  to  the  rights  of  Citizens —  these  amend- 
ments have  been  brought  forward  &  advocated  under  the  impress- 
ion that  most  of  the  Emigrants  to  this  Country  at  this  time  &  per- 
haps for  some  time  to  come,  are  very  highly  charged  with  one  or 
other  of  two  political  manias —  the  spirit  of  Aristocracy  or  of  anar- 
chy—  both  have  indeed  been  in  some  cases  evident —  but  I  confess 
T  was  not  so  fully  impressed  with  the  Necessity  or  policy  of  this 
Law  as  seemed  to  be  generally  the  case  with  the  Members —  altho 
there  are  &  may  be  some   such   Characters,  I  am  persuaded   the 

7  Caused  by  the  general  opposition  to  the  federal  Excise  Law,  culminating 
in  Pennsylvania  in  the  so-called  "Whiskey  Rebellion"  in  1794,  the  summer 
previous  to  the  date  of  this  letter. 

8  This  Amended  Naturalization  Bill  passed  into  law  and  was  approved 
January  29,  1795. 


54  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

good  sense  of  the  whole  will  never  give  way  to  their  follies,  and 
mad  views  I  feared  such  a  Law  might  check  the  spirit  of  Emegra- 
tion  to  this  Country,  which  in  my  opinion  for  a  Century  to  come 
should  be  encouraged  by  every  reasonable  means;  I  am  led  to  this 
impression  the  more  strongly  by  being  a  Southern  Man  ;9tho  many 
differ  with  me  as  to  the  policy  of  this  Subject — 

A  very  important  subject  is  under  consideration  as  respects  the 
whole  community,  tis  the  forming  and  establishing  a  Systeniatick 
plan  by  Law  for  paying  off  and  Sinking  the  Public  debt'0 — I  think 
it  will  be  done,  &  if  we  remain  at  peace  &  our  Revenues  continue 
increasing  as  for  2  years  past  &  Government  not  extravagant,  the 
whole  may  be  paid  in  12  years,  by  redemption  &  purchase  on  the 
part  of  Govert.  without  one  penny  additional  tax —  then  being  out 
of  debt  the  Government  will  have  no  excuse  to  continue  any 
Revenue  Law"  which  may  be  thought  impolitic  or  injurious —  I 
confess  myself  in  favor  of  applying  every  nerve  of  the  Governt. 
towards  melting  down  that  Public  debt  which  hangs  over  us,  & 
which  has  in  many  cases  been  considered  as  a  Colossus  of  Specu- 
lation" which  had  infused  itself  into  the  Administration  of  our 
Federal  Counsils  to  the  dishonour  &c.  of  C  -  gr —  Whether  this  be 
true,  or  not  is  not  in  my  power  to  answer  but  I  fear  there  has  been 
too  much  reason  to  found  such  an  opinion  on  and  from  my  heart 
as  a  Man,  as  a  friend  to  Justice,  to  the  Constitution  &  the  Peace  of 
my  Country,  I  lament  it —  and  the  sooner  the  possibility  of   such 

9  Grove  was  singularly  clear-sighted  as  to  the  needs  of  his  own  section, 
though  the  vision  of  many  of  his  compatriots  had  already  hegnn  to  be 
obscured  by  the  incubus  of  slavery. 

10  Upon  the  meetingof  the  4th  Congress  in  March,  1795,  it  was  found  that 
the  Republicans  were  in  a  majority  in  the  lower  house,  quite  a  safe  one  at 
first.  This  majority  determined  upon  retrenchment  in  public  finance  as  a 
rebuke  to  the  Federalist  party.  Grove,  despite  his  ardent  Federalist  princi- 
ples, sympathized  with  this  purpose  of  his  party  opponents  and  lent  it  his 
encouragement.  Temporarily  defeated,  the  plan  was  resumed  when  Jeil'er- 
son  became  president  in  1801. 

11  A  reference  to  the  federal  Excise  Law,  passed  by  Congress  May  8,  1792, 
and  repealed  by  the  Republican  Congress  in  1S02. 

12  The  assumption  of  State  debts  by  the  federal  government  during  the 
first  Congress  gave  rise  to  much  speculation  in  the  public  securities  that  to  a 
degree  cast  discredit  upon  Hamilton's  wise  financial  policy. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  55 

an  influence  (if  it  does  exist,)  is  removed  the  better —  and  there- 
fore instead  of  Indian  Wars  &c  Let  us  pay  our  Debts —  and  make 
a  fair  start —  for  so  far  as  I  am  capable  of  judging  from  experience 
in  our  own  Country,  and  reading  of  others —  I  think  a  large  Pub- 
lic debt  the  very  opposite  to  a  Public  Blessing — 

I  make  no  doubt  you  partake  in  the  general  anxiety  respecting 
the  result  of  our  Demand  &c  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,13  &  at  the 
Silence  of  the  President  on  that  subject  he  having  not  laid  before 
either  House  one  Syllable  of  Mr  Jay's  Communication —  Some 
here  think  this  amiss  in  him,  but  perhaps  while  the  business  is  in 
a  fair  train  &  nearly  completed  it  might  be  improper  to  disclose 
parts —  therefore  We  are  on  the  top  of  hope  &  expectation  that  all 
things  are  well,  &  like  to  be  better  in  a  little  time —  before  the 
Sessn.  closes  we  must  know  everything,  or —  the  public  mind  will 
begin  to  despair —  If  events  in  Europe  can  have  any  influence  on 
the  British  Court  (  &  I  confess  to  think  they  must  have  important 
effects  )  these  events  seem  to  favour  our  Expectations  to  obtain  all 
our  Just  demands — 

I  have  seen  a  letter  of  the  2d.  Nov.  from  a  Merchant  of  Conse- 
quence in  London  to  one  of  that  kind  here,  which  enters  into 
detail  of  the  nature  &  objects  of  Negoceation  between  the  British 
&  American  Ministers,  he  says  Commissrs.  are  to  be  appointed  to 
fix  on  the  Boundary  to  the  No.  Es.  as  fixed  in  the  Treaty  viz  to 
determine  on  the  proper  River  St  Croix —  that  all  our  Western 
Forts  are  to  be  immediately  delivered  to  us — that  Commissrs.  are  to 
assertain  the  loss  of  Negroes  actually  taken  by  the  British  during  the 
War  &  payment  made —  that  all  kinds  of  impediment  are  to  be 
removed  respecting  the  payment  &  recovery  of  old  British  debts — 
and  that  we  are  to  have  a  free  trade  to  the  Ws.  Indies  for  Vessels 
of  or  under  120  tons —  altho  all  these  things  are  probable,  politic, 
&  just  as  respects  both  Nations,  remember  tis   Merchants   News — 

13  John  Jay,  of  New  York,  had  been  sent  to  England  in  May  1794  to  ne- 
gotiate a  treaty  of  commerce  with  that  country  and  to  settle  all  outstanding 
differences  left  over  from  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1783.  As  is  well  known,  the 
treaty  when  finally  effected  was  entirely  unsatisfactory  to  the  bulk  of  opinion 
in  this  country,  yet  the  Federalist  party,  in  an  extra  session  of  the  Senate, 
was  strong  enough  to  force  its  ratification  despite  the  storm  of  protest 
throughout  the  country. 


56  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

that  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  Conferming  it  all  &  more  from 
official  information  before  the  3  of  March  is  my  Sincere  prayei — 
That  Prusia  has  solicited  and  obtained  Peace  with  the  French 
Republic14  Is  Confermed  from  all  quarters —  that  Spain  &  Germany 
are  Negotiating  to  that  end  with  the  French  is  also  most  certain — 
that  the  States  of  Holland  are  Willing  &  must  accept  any  terms  is 
evident  for  the  French  are  nearly  in  Possession  of  their  Whole 
Country —  The  French  begin  to  treat  the  Conquered  People  with 
the  strictest  Justice  &  respect,  &  propose  to  grant  the  request  of 
the  States  of  Holland,  upon  their,  in  every  respect  detaching  them- 
selves from  England  &  its  interest —  Indeed  it  seems  to  be  the 
whole  bent  of  the  Convention  &  Nation  of  France  to  establish  the 
River  Rhine  as  the  extent  and  boundary  of  the  Republic  &  to  have 
Peace  with  all  the  World  but  their  old  Rival  and  Enemy  Gr  Brit- 
ain, who  it  seems  they  are  Resolved  to  have  one  fair  Campaign 
with,  perhaps  with  a  view  of  paying  that  Nation  in  coin,  as  to  dic- 
tating a  Form  of  Government  for  them —  What  the  consequences 
and  results  of  all  these  transactions  will  come  to  the  L  —  d  only 
knows —  but  I  hope  the  Spirit  of  Moderation  &  humanity  which 
seems  at  present  predominant  in  the  Convention  may  bring  about 
a  Speedy  &  glorious  Peace  to  the  advantage  of  the  real  liberty  vv; 
happen  ess  of  Mankind,  in  those  Nations  more  particularly  where 
the  reverse  has  been  too  prevalent. 

That  the  French  meditate  some  attack  on  G.  B.  and  the  Ws. 
Indies  seems  the  more  probable,  from  the  circumstance,  that  the 
Paris  papers  say  the  Govt,  are  aware  that  too  many  of  their  Vast 
armies  should  not  be  discharged  at  once  &  brought  into  the  Body 
of  the  Nation,  l>efore  all  things  on  a  firm  &  proper  basis  are  form- 
ed on  a  Constitution  &  Laws  &c.  and  therefore  to  humble  the  pride 
&c  &c  of  the  British  Court  may  be  a  proper  object  of  Employment 

14  The  Republic  of  France,  established  September  2,  1792,  was  now  rapid- 
ly moving  along  that  aggressive  course  which  was  to  lead  the  nation  into  con- 
flict with  all  Europe  and  was  finally  to  culminate  in  Waterloo,  1815.  All 
public  men  in  America  were  profoundly  interested  in  European  affairs  daring 
all  this  period,  and  especially  in  that  the  influences  of  the  European  conflict 
created  the  largest  political  problems  of  the  young  American  Republic  "lur- 
ing its  first  quarter  century  of  life. 


James)  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  57 

of  a  half  a  million  or  so  of  their  brave  Sans  Culottes15 —  This  may- 
prove  an  obstinate  and  Vexatious  Job  to  them  for  altho  John  Bull 
has  been  shamefully  treated  in  this  War,  &  much  of  his  treasure 
exhausted  yet  if  all  his  family  &  Connections  unite  and  make  War 
their  object  without  regard  to  Commerce  as  the  French  have  done, 
they  would  make  a  formidable  and  dredfull  resistance — 

For  my  own  part  I  dont  think  tis  the  real  Intert.  of  America 
that  the  Navy  of  Gr.  Britain  should  be  so  formadable  as  it  is,  for 
it  makes  them  very  arrogant  &  dictatorial  to  People  they  have  no 
business  with ,  &  therefore  I  wish  that  part  of  their  force  lessened — 

Yet  remember  I  should  not  like  even  our  friends  the  French,  to 
have  a  Very  decided  Superiority  on  the  ocean  to  all  other  Nations 
in  War  Ships,  and  therefore  I  believe  it  would  not  be  amiss  for 
them  to  distroy  each  others  Floating  War  Machines  down  to  a 
moderate  number —  the  Peace,  Happiness,  &  Expenses  of  their 
own  People  would  be  bettered  by  such  an  event —  and  the  Ameri- 
cans would  have  less  to  fear  of  either,  of  their  future  ambition  or 
mad  projects — 

I  now  thank  you  for  your  favr.  of  the  2d.  Jany  from  Hillsboro — 
the  former  part  of  this  letter  answers  it  so  far  as  respects  the  Land 
business. 

I  assure  you  I  feel  much  obliged  for  the  acct.  you  gave  me  of  the 
affair  between  Bob  &  [One  word  illegible]  by  same  post  that 
brt.  your  last.  Mr  Taylor"  from  Raleigh  just  mentioned  some- 
thing of  the  affair,  in  a  slight  &  hasty  manner,  which  would  have 
made  me  very  uneasy  but  for  your  letter,  giving  a  full  account  of 
the  cause  &  manner  of  Bob's  attack  on  his  old  tutor;'7  however 
from  your  information  of  the  business  I  approve  of  Bob's  conduct, 
only  that  he  did  not  I  fear  give  the  Fellow  a  sufficient  drubbing — 

15  A  name  of  reproach  and  ridicule  conferred  by  the  French  aristocrats 
upon  those  belonging  to  the  extreme  republican  party,  the  mpmbers  of  which 
had  rejected  short  breeches,  as  an  article  of  dress  peculiar  to  the  upper 
clrsses. 

16  John  Louis  Taylor,  of  Fayetteville,  Grove's  home,  is  very  probably 
meant  here.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Commons  in  1792,  1793,  1794; 
in  1798  lie  was  elected  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  in  1818  a  judge  o{ 
the  Supreme  Court. 

17  I  have  been  unable  to  determine  who  was  Bob  or  his  tutor. 


58  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

for  surely  there  could  not  have  been  in  my  mind  a  Baser,  more 
brutal,  unmanly  behaviour  than  your  account  of  [One  word  illegi- 
ble] conduct —  to  be  sure  the  Fellow  is  lost  to  every  sense  of  De- 
cency and  I  hope  all  who  have  any  pretentions  to  it  will  treat  him 
accordingly — 

I  ask  pardon  for  this  Long  letter,  when  I  sit  down  to  write  or 
taulk  to  you,  I  generally  forget  how  the  time  passes  until  the  Bell 
rings —  Be  so  good  as  remember  me  with  respectful  compliments  to 
all  my  Female  friends  &  acquaintances  in  Hillsboro;  and  say  to 
any  of  my  acquaintances  among  the  Gentlemen  that  I  should  be 
glad  to  hear  from  them — 

Pray  how  does  Mr.  Ker'8  go  on  at  Chapel  Hill  and  is  things  like 
to  do  well  there;  the  more  I  think  of  that  Seminaiy  &  the  State  of 
our  Country  I  mean  No.  C. —  the  more  anxious  I  am  for  its  suc- 
cess—  our  Country  wants  Men  of  literature  more  than  any  other 
want  on  earth — 

Morse's  Book"  has  injured  the  reputation  of  our  State  extreme- 
ly, by  his  false,  infamous  account  of  the  Country  &  its  inhabi- 
tants—  the  Book  being  the  first  of  its  kind  published  in  America 
since  the  Revolution  was  bought  with  avidity  by  Europeans,  &  has 
undergone  a  French  &  German  Edition —  Dr.  Williamson  proposes 
writing  the  History20  of  the  State  &  I  have  Subd  for  3  Copies,  he  is 
a  man  of  such  prejudices  that  T  fear  all  that  time  which  he  has 
acted  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  State —  which  is  from  his  first 
coming  into  it,  that  the  Book  will  not  be  much  prized —  however 
the  early  part  of  the  History  will  probably  be  correct,  for  he  has 
great  industry  in  procuring  materials —  some  say  he  furnished 
Morse  with  some  of  the  most  objectional  parts  of  his  acct.   of  the 


18  Dr.  David  Ker,  first  professor  and  also,  as  Presiding  Professor,  the  first 
executive  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  which  institution  had  just  been 
open«l  Jan.  15,  1795,  six  days  before  the  date  of  Grove's  letter. 

19  American  Universal  Geography,  by  Jedidiah  Morse,  D.  D.  This  book 
reached  its  fifth  edition  in  1812,  being  published  in  that  year  by  Thomas  and 
Andrews,  Boston,  Mass. 

20  Williamson's  History  of  North  Carolina  appeared  in  1812.  Grove  proved 
to  be  singularly  correct  in  his  estimate  of  the  probable  value  of  William- 
son's work,  parts  of  it  being  of  unusual  value,  due  in  the  main  to  the  author's 
indefatigability  in  the  collection  of  material. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  59 

State,  if  I  thought  so  I  would  despise  him — 

Carey  is  now  publishing  a  Geography  of  the  Un  States,  and  I 
have  got  him  to  expunge  all  Morse's  libels —  and  Gov.  Martin2' 
has  written  several  little  additions  to  the  acct.  of  the  State,  that 
in  some  measure  may  commence  a  refutation  of  that  illiberal  and 
ignorant  authors  Book —  (Morse's) —  I  have  taken  care  that  our 
Town  &  Wilmington  should  not  be  unnoticed —  as  respects  their 
Trade  &c  &c 

I  intended  to  bid  you  Adieu  two  sheets  ago  but  finding  myself 
entering  on  the  last  side  of  the  fifth  sheet  &  20th .  page —  I  feel 
compassion  for  your  Patience  and  bid  you  Farewell,  with  a  confi- 
dance  that  he  who  writes  or  taulks  much  must  be  troublesome  to 
his  friends —  pray  then  forgive  all  the  Superfluous  of  this  letter 
and 

believe  me 

with  esteem 

your  friend 

&  very  Hum.  Ser. 

W  B  Grove 


To  James  Hogg 

Phila.  June  24th.  1797 

Dear  Sir 

Mr  Rich  &  Mr  McDonald  the  Commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  G  Britain  arrived  in  May,  &  met  Colo  Innis* 
&  Mr.  Fitzsimmons  the  Commissrs.  on  the  part  of  the  U  States  for 
adjusting  the  Business  of  the  old  British  debts  agreeably  to  Treaty, 
a  Mr  Guilmard  was  nominated  by  the  British   for   the   5th    Com- 

21  Alexander  Martin  of  Guilford,  elected  governor  of  North  Carolina  in 
1782  and  again  in  1789 ;  member  of  Philadelphia  Constitutional  Convention, 
1787,  and  United  States  Senator  1793-1799. 

1  Colonel  Henry  Innis  of  Virginia,  afterward  federal  District  Judge  in 
Kentucky  before  whom  was  had  the  Frankfort  hearing  of  Aaron  Burr  just 
before  the  latter's  conspiracy  was  uncovered  in  1806. 


60  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

missr.,  &  Mr  Ames2  on  the  part  of  the  U  States;  the  Lot  fell  on  the 
former;  they  have  formed  a  Board  and  are  ready  to  enter  on  the 
subject  of  their  appointment,  as  you  will  see  by  their  notice  in  the 
Ns  papers;  No  Business  has  been  yet  brought  before  them,  &  .Mr 
Innis  with  whom  I  am  in  habits  of  intimacy,  tells  me  they  have 
agreed  on  no  particular  principles  yet,  as  to  the  mode  &  manner  of 
establishing  claims;  He  is  opinion  all  claims  must  have  gone 
through  the  Courts  of  Law  before  they  can  be  entered  on,  by  Com- 
missioners, who  he  thinks  have  not  by  the  Treaty  Original  Juris- 
diction, this  however  he  fears  is  a  point  to  be  contended,  and 
should  it  be  settled  in  such  a  way  as  to  extend  the  powers  of  the 
Commissn.,  from  whose  decision  there  is  no  appeal  he  expn 
an  apprehension  that  considerable  sums  may  be  awarded  against 
the  U  States,  which  were  not  intended  by  the  Treaty  to  be  covered. 

Mr  Innis  says  he  finds  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
Gentlemen  to  make  this  place  the  permanent  Seat  of  the  Board, 
but  that  he  shall  urge  a  removal  to  the  South  in  the  fall :  agents 
will  be  appointed  to  attend  to  the  interests  of  the  U  States,  to 
obtain  testimony  &  prevent  frauds  &  Collusions  Szc —  A  report  was 
some  time  ago  in  circulation  that  the  Commissn.  in  London  for 
adjusting  claims  for  Spoilations  had  refused  to  proceed,  it  seems 
this  is  not  so;  the  Court  of  Appeals  had  indeed  adjourned,  which 
might  retard  the  decisions  of  the  Commiss.  for  a  short  time.  I 
suppose  tis  not  improbable  but  the  failure  of  the  Federal  Court  in 
N.  C.3  may  have  a  like  tendency —  I  regret  really  that  our  State 
has  been  so  unfortunate  in  failures  of  this  kind,  which  must 
increase  the  dissatisfaction  of  many,  &  bring  those  Courts  into  dis- 
repute.— 

Our  affairs  with  France  wear's  a  gloomy  aspect,  and  yet    many 


2  Fisher  Ames  of  Massachusetts,  ardent  Federalist,  member  of  Oongrca 
from  hi*  State,  famous  political  orator,  one  of  his  Inst  known  speeches  being 
that  in  defense  of  the  Jay  Treaty  made  April  28,  1790,  two  weeks  after  the 
Senate  had  ratified  that  document. 

3  A  quorum  of  the  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  District  of  North 
Carolina  did  not  attend  for  the  June  term,  1797,  hence  there  was  no  court. 
This  made  necessary  a  congressional  act,  approved  July  5,  1797,  for  review- 
ing and  continuing  suits  and  processes.  See  Annals  of  Congress,  5th  Cong., 
1797-1799.  Vol.  III.,  3692.     Acta  of  Cong. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  61 

have  hopes  that  matters  will  be  more  amicably  adjusted  by  our 
new  mission  of  Envoys4  Extraory. ;  I  most  fervently  hope  it  may 
be  so,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  Peace  &  tiappiness  of  our  Country  We 
should  suppress  the  honest  indignation  excited  by  their  injuries  & 
insults,5  provided  they  adjust  matters  with  Justice  &  liberality —  I 
can  not  omit  saying  what  I  firmly  believe,  that  many  among  us 
have  been  induced  to  justify  the  French  more  from  the  enthusiasm  - 
we  felt  at  the  blaze  of  their  Successes,  than  from  any  candid  inves- 
tigation which  can  be  made  into  their  Conduct  towards  the  Uni- 
ted States —  I  suspect  those6  in  our  own  Country  who  blame  the 
American  Government  for  pursuing  measures  calculated  to  main- 
tain the  Neutrality  of  the  Country,  have  themselves  been  neutral,  and 
therefore  blame  the  Constituted  authorities  because  their  acts  did 
not  go  the  length  of  their  mad  Views —  While  we  rejoice  at  the  pros- 
pect of  a  great  Nation  obtaining  rational  Liberty,  we  ought  not  to 
forget  the  Duty  &  respect  we  owe  to  our  own  rights  &  Country. 

Congress  will  rise  in  seven  or  eight  days,  without  doing  any 
thing  more  of  Consequence  than  taking  some  preparitory  steps  for 
Defence  in  case  of  the  worst. 

The  Spanish  Government  has  refused  to  run  the  line  from  the 
Mississippi  agreeably  to  Treaty7  and  offer  some   very   flimsy  pre- 

4  This  was  Adams'  first  mission  to  France,  composed  of  Charles  Pinckney, 
John  Marshall,  and  Elbridge  Gerry,  the  treatment  of  whom  by  France  re- 
sulted in  the  famous  X.Y.Z.  affair. 

5  France  was  in  a  deadly  grapple  with  England  and  resented  America's 
policy  of  neutrality.  Her  minister,  Fauchet,  accused  the  America,  govern- 
ment of  the  violation  and  inexecution  of  treaties,  one  of  which,  made  in  1778, 
he  regarded  as  an  offensive  and  defensive  aliiance;  the  other  of  amity,  navi- 
gation, and  commerce  under  which  France  claimed  the  right  of  bringing 
prizes  into  United  States  ports,  and  of  fitting  out  ships  against  her  enemies, 
all  of  which  the  American  government  opposed. 

6  Grove's  complaint  here  is  directed  against  the  Republican  party,  whose 
sympathies  were  pro-French.  The  Federalists'  sympathies  were  with  the 
English  in  the  great  international  conflict.  In  case  the  policy  of  neutrality 
was  abandoned  the  Republicans  wished  to  fight  England,  wt  ile  the  Federal- 
ists wished  to  fight  France. 

7  In  1796  the  United  States  had  affected  a  treaty  with  Spain  by  which  the 
Mississippi  River  was  to  be  opened,  New  Orleans  made  a  port  of  deposit  for 
three  years,  and  the  thirty-first  degree  of  latitude  agreed  upon  as  part  of  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  United  States.     But  in  1797   this  excellent  treaty 


62  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

tences  for  this  Conduct,  but  it  is  pretty  well  understood  that 
French  influence  is  the  real  cause,  &  it  is  said  the  Florida's  & 
Louisiania8  is  to  be  relenquished  to  the  Republic;  perhaps  Canada 
may  also  fall  into  their  hands —  If  so  I  fear  from  their  power  and 
ambition,  they  may  become  troublesome  neighbors  to  this  Country. 

The  Empiror  has  certainly  been  driven  into  a  separate  Peace  in 
consequence  of  the  wonderful  victories  of  the  French  armies,  the 
terms  have  been  dictated  by  Buonaparte9  under  the  direction  of  the 
Directory;  a  Congress  is  to  be  held  at  Basle'°  at  which  some  of  the 
German  Princes  &  G.  Britain  are  to  be  permitted  to  send  Negotiator* 
to  effect  a  general  Peace;  in  the  mean  time  it  seems  from  French 
papers  the  Republic  are  resolved  to  annihilate  the  British  Govern- 
ment &  destroy  her  Naval  power  if  she  can — 

If  these  things  are  effected  it  must  have  great  and  important 
consequences  on  the  affairs  of  Europe  and  the  Commercial  Wourld, 
and  I  am  not  persuaded  but  it  would  have  an  unhappy  influence 
on  the  affairs  of  our  own  Country;  for  either  France,  or  G  Britain 
to  have  such  a  Complete  power  over  the  other,  would  destroy  rival- 
ship  which  has  at  times  prevented  both  nations  from  overrunning 
the  rights  of  others. 

Be  so  good  as  remember  me  to  all  friends  &  believe  to  be  with 
esteem  D  Sir 

Your  Hum  Sert. 

W.  B.  Grove 


seemed  for  a  time  likely  to  fail.  Spain  had  taken  offense  at  the  Jay  Treaty 
with  England  and  refused  for  a  time  to  run  out  the  boundary  line  which 
separated  her  possessions  from  those  of  the  United  States. 

8  West  Florida  and  Louisiana  were  both  possessions  of  Spain  at  this  date. 
Louisiana  was  ceded  by  Spain  to  Napoleon  at  the  secret  treaty  of  San  Ude- 
fonso,  1800. 

9  These  terms  were  not  actually  signed  between  Emperor  Francis  II  and 
Bonaparte  until  October  17,  1797.  It  was  the  treaty  of  Campo  Formio  dicta- 
ted by  Bonaparte  to  Francis,  one  hundred  miles  from  Vienna  and  after  his 
wonderful  victories  in  northern  Italy.  By  it  the  Emperor  agreed  to  the  ex- 
tension of  France  over  the  Netherlands  and  the  Rhenish  Provinces,  and  the 
virtual  annexation  of  Lombardy,  Modena,  and  the  Papal  States,  while  Aus- 
tria was  allowed  to  take  over  the  ancient  Republic  of  Venice. 

10  This  Congress  actually  met  at  Rastadt,  November,  1797,  but  did  noth- 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  63 

To  James  Hogg. 

Philadelphia  Decern.  18.  1797 

Dear  Sir 

I  wrote  you  a  few  lines  sometime  ago  and  expect  short- 
ly to  have  the  pleasure  of  an  answer,  In  the  mean  time  tis  proper 
I  should  give  you  some  information  on  the  subject  of  your  Money 
put  into  my  Hands  to  be  vested  in  some  public  fund  here —  In  the 
first  place  the  Gold  when  weighed  at  the  Bank  amounted  to  $807.37- 
of  course  you  lost  $2.61 —  as  the  sum  you  gave  me  was  $810.1 — 
but  had  not  the  enclosed  moidore  (contained  in  parcel  No  1 — ) 
proved  base,  your  money  would  have  over  run  your  calculation — 
It  was  cut  at  the  bank. —  This  money  I  deposited  in  the  Bank  on 
the  18th.  Nov. —  and  have  since  Deposited  the  $500  you  gave  me 
in  paRer. 

I  mentioned  to  you  that  Mr  Steele1  &  others  had  advised  the 
purchase  of  Bank  Stock,  Viz  Bank  Shares,  in  preference  to  6  p  Ct. 
Stock  as  less  liable  to  fluctuation  or  depreciation —  Bank  Stock  is 
above  par,  &  the  other  something  below,  but  on  further  enquiries 
into  the  subject  I  dont  perceive  so  much  difference  in  their  actual 
Value  as  I  at  first  apprehended —  for  instance  a  Bank  Share  say 
$400  sells  at  23  to  25  pr  Ct.  advance,  and  the  Dividend  on  this  is 
generally  7  p  Ct.  to  8  p  Ct.  half  yearly —  6  p  Ct.  Stock  is  about  17 
having  had  2  years  of  the  original  principal  of  2  p  Ct.  on  each 
$100  paid  agreeably  to  Law,  and  the  redemption  continues  to  go 
on  at  that  rate  quarter  yearly  until  the  whole  debt  shall  be  re- 
deemed—  this  redeemable  quality  in  the  Debt  of  the  U.  States,  les- 
sens its  value  with  Stock  Jobbers.  But  tis  an  admirable  plan  for 
the  public  to  get  rid  of  the  Debt —  and  should  not  be  deviated 
from  under  No  Circumstances ;  but  in  case  of  War  or  any  great  pub- 


ing  beyond  the  ratification  of  the  secret  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Campo  For- 
mic    England  was  not  represented  and  continued  the  war  against  France. 

1  John  Steele,  of  Salisbury,  N.  C,  Comptroller  of  the  United  States  Treas- 
ury under  Washington's  and  Adams'  administrations,  and  for  two  years 
under  Jefferson.     He  resigned  his  post  in  the  fall  of  1802. 


61  James  Spru-nt  Historical  Publications 

lie  disturbance,  this  redemption  of  principal  as  well  as  payment  of 
interest  might  be  delayed;  but  I  hope  &  trust  neither  will  happen, 
notwithstanding  the  gloomy  prospect  of  things  for  some  time  p;ist 
as  regards  our  affaire  with  France.  I  have  advised  also  with  Mr 
John  Storey,2  the  friend  of  Mr  Jno  Hogg,3  who  I  shall  get  to  do 
the  necessary  Business  as  regards  the  purchase  of  the  Stock  Arc. 
which  I  shall  attend  to,  so  as  to  see  the  proper  transfer   made — 

The  reason  why  nothing  has  been  yet  done,  is,  that  it  being  so 
near  the  end  of  the  year,  &  quarter  Mr  S.  thinks  it  best  to  purchase 
so  as  to  commence  from  the  first  of  Jany.,  and  he  is  now  casting 
about  for  a  sum  to  or  near  the  amt  of  Cash,  I  hope  ere  long  to  give 
you  further  accounts,  and  I  am  now  the  more  particular  to  afford 
you  a  better  idea  of  these  matters  than  perhaps  you  may  have 
had  before   — 

We  have  had  more  harmony  in  Congress  than  usual,  &  I  hope  a 
Continuance  of  it,  tho'  there  has  been  very  little  yet  before  us  of  a 
nature  to  Excite  the  Spirit  of  Party —  I  send  you  the  Report  of 
our  Committee  of  last  Sessn.  &  the  Documents  relative  to  Blounts 
Conspiracy4 —  you  will  perceive  Mr  Liston5  gave  more  Countenance 
to  the  Scheme,  than  had  been  apprehended,  and  I  would  not  be 
surprised  if  the  President  should  request  his  recall;  it  would  grati- 
fy many  who  think  Mr  L.  has  had  more  to  do  in  the  Business  than 
has  ever  appeared,  &  it  would  silence  those  who  wish  to  make  a 
Charge  of  partiality  against  the  Government —  You  will  also  dis- 
cover an  attempt  to  insinuate  that  the  Secrty.  of  State6  was   deeir- 

2  Probably  a  stock  broker  of  Philadelphia. 

3  Cousin  of  James  Hogg.  John  Hogg  was  a  merchant,  doing  business  in 
both  Fayetteville  and  Wilmington  and  residing  in  the  main  in  the  latter 
town. 

4  William  Blount,  first  United  States  Senator  from  Tennessee,  impeached 
before  the  bar  of  the  Senate  and  expelled  for  exciting  the  Indians  and  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  adventurers  to  make  hostile  incursions  against  Spaniel] 
territory. 

5  Robert  Liston,  minister  to  the  United  States  from  Great  Britain,  was 
included  in  the  plan  to  make  war  on  the  Spanish  Floridas.  It  was  for  co-op- 
eration with  this  English  scheme  of  wresting  the  Floridas  from  Spain  that 
Wm.  Blount  was  impeached. 

6  Timothy  Pickering,  Secretary  of  State  under  Adams. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  65 

ous  to  screen  the  British  Minister —  I  suspect  the  insinuation  pro- 
ceeded from  Malice,  or  a  misunderstanding  of  Eatons7  information 
to  Ripley. 

Our  Envoys8  are  at  Paris,  but  We  yet  know  nothing  of  their  pros- 
pects; I  need  not  tell  you  that  We  are  all  anxiety  on  this  Subject. 
As  the  result  of  their  Mission  I  apprehend  must  have  an  important 
influence  on  the  affairs  of  this  Country,  T  earnestly  hope  it  may  be 
favourable  to  Reason  &  Justice. 

There  is  some  flying  Report  that  French  Garrisons  are  in  some 
or  all  of  the  Ports  on  the  Mississippi  I  hope  tis  not  true  nor  never 
may  be;  they  are  too  Powerful  and  Ambitious  to  be  honest  and 
Just  Neighbors.9 

Few  arrivals  latterly  from  Europe,  but  what  have  long  passages; 
but  information  has  got  here  from  several  quarters  that  Admrl. 
Duncan'0  had  a  most  severe  action  the  12th.  Oct.  with  the  Dutch 
Fleet —  8  or  9  of  the  Dutch  line  of  Battle  Ships  are  taken  and 
some  of  the  British  Vessels  nearly  disabled — 

It  was  expected  that  3  yenrs  after  the  Mint  began  to  Coin,  there 
would  be  a  Sufficiency  of  the  Silver  Coins  of  the  Ud.  States  in  cir- 
culation," to  admit  the  calling  in  such  silver  Coins  as  are  supposed 
to  have  more  alloy  than  is  proper,  but  it  is  proved  to  be  otherwise, 
&  the  time  admitting  those  coins  to  circulate  will  be  prolonged, 
as  well  as  for  gold  coins  — 

7  Probably  General  William  Eaton,  a  captain  at  this  date  on  the  Seminole 
frontier  in  Georgia,  later,  in  Jefferson's  administration  the  real  hero  of  the 
Tripolitan  war. 

8  Pinckney,  Marshall,  and  Gerry.  Grove's  fears  were  fully  realized  a  lit- 
tle later  in  the  X.Y.Z.  explosion. 

9  The  general  American  dread  of  France  as  a  neighbor  on  our  southwest- 
ern border  accounts  for  Jefferson's  disregard  of  constitutional  scruples  and 
his  hasty  purchase  of  the  Louisiana  territory  in  1803  after  it  had  been  trans- 
ferred by  Spain  to  France  in  1800. 

10  Admiral  Duncan,  of  the  English  navy,  defeated  the  Dutch  fleet  off  Cam- 
perdown,  on  the  coast  of  Holland,  Oct.,  11,  1797.  The  Dutch  were  allied 
with  the  French. 

11  An  act  of  Congress  in  1793  had  provided  that,  three  years  from  the  day, 
on  which  the  first  silver  coin  and  again  three  years  from  the  day  on  which 
the  first  gold  coin  was  struck  at  the  mint,  gold  and  silver  bearing  the  stamp 
of  foreign  powers  should,  save   Spanish  milled  dollars  and  parts  thereof, 


66  Jaw.es  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

The  Stamp  tax"  will  not  go  into  operation  until  1st  July —  I 
hope  we  shall  alter  and  amend  the  Excise  Law13  so  as  to  remove 
your  objections,  in  part,  at  least —  by  permitting  the  Distillers  to 
enter  for  one  week,  at  any  time  through  the  year,  and  from  Week 
to  Week  as  they  may  think  proper  — 

I  will  thank  you  to  remember  me  to  my  friends  Mr  &  Mrs  Estce 
and  inform  them,  I  mean  to  write  Mr  Estes  soon —  I  suppose  they 
have  heard  of  my  Brother  Robert  Rowan14  affliction  with  the  Rheu- 
matism. 

When  he  arrived  at  New  York  from  the  Lakes  he  was  as  help- 
less as  a  Child,  he  could  neither  use  hands  or  legs —  I  Visited  him 
immediately  on  hearing  of  his  situation,  &  am  happy  to  say  he 
was  much  better  before  he  left  New  York  for  Wilmington,  &  that 
the  Medical  Men  say  they  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  warm  cli- 
mate, warm  bath  &  Electricity  will  soon  restore  him —  Be  pleased 
to  offer  my  respects  to  your  family  &  be  assured  I  am  Dear  Sir, 
with  Esteem 

yr.  Hum  Ser. 

W  B  Grove 


cease  to  be  legal  tender.  In  1797  when  the  three  years  had  expired  it  was 
found  that  the  TJ.  S.  mint  had  not  supplied  a  sufficient  coinage,  hence  the 
time  had  to  be  extended. 

12  In  anticipation  of  war  with  France  the  Federal  Congress  in  1797  pass- 
ed a  stamp  act  that  required  a  revenue  stamp  on  such  documents  as  insur- 
ance policies,  merchants'  bonds,  promissory  notes,  bills  of  exchange,  law 
licenses,  and  many  other  documents.  It  fell  under  severe  criticism  of  the 
Republican  party  in  Congress  and  was  repealed  in  1802. 

13  This  was  the  Excise  Law  of  1791  against  which  the  Pennsylvania  distil- 
lers rose  in  1794;  repealed  during  Jefferson's  first  term,  but  reimposed  in 
Madison's  administration  under  pressure  of  expense  of  war  with  England. 

14  Half-brother  of  Grove.  Grove's  mother,  as  a  widow,  married  Robert 
Rowan,  of  Fayetteville,  who  gave  the  name  Rowan  Street  in  that  town.  The 
elder  Rowan  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  from  Cumberland  coun- 
ty in  1778,  1779,  1785.  A  daughter,  Susan  Rowan,  became  the  first  wife  of 
Dr.  Joseph  Caldwell,  first  president  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  67 

To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  Jany  18h.  1798 

Dear  Sir 

I  some  time  ago  directed  Clement  Biddle,  Broker,  to 
purchase  Stock  of  the  U.  States  to  the  amount  of  your  money  say 
Sixteen  hundred  &  Seven  Dollars  &  37  cents,  &  by  mistake  he  has 
omitted  to  invest  7  Dollars  37  cents —  I  now  send  you  enclosed  a 
Regisd.  Certificate  being  the  evidence  of  the  sum  standing  on  the 
Books  of  the  Treasury  of  the  U.  States  to  your  credit,  the  interest, 
and  reimbursement  of  2  p  Ct.  thereof,  can  only  be  drawn  by  your 
atty  for  that  purpose. 

Mr.  Biddle's  acct.  if  inclosed  by  which  you  will  see  the  real 
state  &  nature  of  your  Stock,  leaving  in  my  hands  7  Dolls.  &  37 
Cents  subject  to  your  order,  or  to  be  added  to  any  other  sum  you 
may  choose  to  invest  in  this  way  — 

In  reply  to  your  enquiries  how  monies  can  be  got  from  our 
Country  to  this  place,  I  can  give  you  no  information  unless  you 
can  meet  with  Bank  notes. 

I  have  made  some  enquiries  about  the  Value  and  probability  of 
selling  your  Lands  in  Tennessee  &  Kentucky  within  Henderson 
grants';  I  am  told  these  Lands  must  become  Valuable,  but  at  pres- 
ent not  more  than  half  a  Dollr.  could  be  had  for  the  Kentucky 
Land,  &  the  Value  of  Powels  Valley  will  depend  on  the  extin- 
guishment of  the  Indian  claims,  and  this  event  is  likely  to  take 
place  shortly,  as  the  President  has  nominated  Mr  Ad.  Moore2  of 
N.  C.  Bushrod  Washington3  of  Virga.  &  Fisher  Ames,4  to  hold  a 
Treaty  with  the  Cherokees  under  hope  that  they  may  be  prevailed 

1  The  Transylvania  Land  Company,  explained  in  an  earlier  note. 

2  Alfred  Moore,  senior,  of  Brunswick,  N.  C,  Attorney  General  of  North 
Carolina,  1790-1798;  Superior  Court  Judge  1798-1799;  Associate  Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court  1799-1805;  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health, 
and  died  Oct.,  15,  1810. 

3  Relative  of  President  Washington,  member  of  Congress  from  Virginia, 
appointed  by  Adams  an  Associate  Justice  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 

4  Fisher  Ames,  of  Massachusetts,  noted  earlier. 


68  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

on  to  sell  &  relinquish  some  of  their  Lands  to  which  the  white 
People  have  legal  claims  under  N.  Carolinia,  and  I  am  induced  to 
think  tis  probable,  that  part  of  the  Country  where  your  Lands  are 
situated  is  the  most  likely  to  be  given  up  by  the  Indians  — 

I  hope  Mr  Moore  may  be  prevailed  on  to  accept  and  act  in  this 
Business;  there  are  very  considerable  interest  in  No.  Carolina  de- 
pending on  this  matter,  &  indeed  the  Peace  of  the  Country  is  in 
some  measure  at  stake,  for  the  honest  claimants  will  never  be  at 
ease  until  they  see  a  fair  attempt  made  on  the  part  of  the  U.  States 
to  obtain  those  Lands  from  the  Indians,  &  the  weight  &  respecta- 
bility of  the  Commissioners  will  go  far  in  satisfying  good  Men  let 
the  result  be  as  it  may  —  I  wish  the  frauds5  lately  discovered  at 
Raleigh  may  not  have  a  bad  effect  in  this  Business,  I  assure  every 
Body  here,  the  State  will  sift  the  matter  to  the  bottom  and  not  permit 
any  of  those  fraudulent  claims  to  prevail  —  yet  it  may  create 
doubt  &c  &c 

In  haste  I  am 

D  Sir  your  Hum  Sert 

W.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

■      Phila.  Jany  18th.  1798 

Dear  Sir 

By  this  mail,  &  of  this  date,  I  have  sent  you  a  let- 
ter covering  a  Certift.  of  the  Six  p  Ct.  Stock  which  was  purchased 
with  Sixteen  hundred  Dollars  Cash  at  16/lOd  in  the  pound — I 
hope  that  letter  &  its  enclosures  may  arrive  safe —  you  must  have 
an  atty  or  agent  here  to  convert  pour  interest  &  dividend  of  reim- 
bursement, as  it  becomes  due  at  the  end  of  each  quarter  into  New 
Capital  by  this  means  it  has  the  effect  of  Compound  inters — 

5  Certain  frauds  in  the  Land  Office  at  Raleigh  under  Glasgow.  Glasgow 
was  removed  from  office  in  latter  part  of  1797  and  a  commission  appointed 
to  sift  the  whole  matter. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  69 

The  Commissrs.'  on  British  debts  have  done  nothing  decisive  yet, 
as  Mr  Fitzsimmons  tells  me;  they  have  been  delayed  by  their  Col- 
league Colo  Innis  of  Virga.  who  has  been  very  ill;  they  have  how- 
ever been  preparing  Business  and  will  probably  soon  proceed  to  fix 
on  principles  after  that  is  done  they  will  make  pretty  short  work  of 
such  claims  as  may  be  brought  before  them —  and  I  fear  they  will 
bring  us  in  deeper  than  was  expected —  this  will  certainly  be  the 
case  if  it  is  determined  to  take  up  any  Business  that  has  not  gone 
through  a  Court. 

I  am  amazed  you  have  not  urged  your  Brothers  Creditors2  for- 
ward before  now;  If  I  have  rightly  understood  the  situation  of 
that  Concern,  they  have  claims  for  legal  impediments  if  any  in 
America  have —  In  my  letter, of  to-day  I  have  told  you  what  had 
been  done  towards  satisfying  the  No.  Carolina  land  holders  in 
Tennessee;3 1  hope  the  result  of  it  may  be  favourable  to  all  sides 
and  that  Mr.  Moore  may  agree  to  act  as  one  of  the  Commissioners — 
I  think  it  would  be  but  Justice  that  some  of  the  gentry  lately  taken 
in  committing  frauds4  should  grace  Gallows  Hill —  Nothing  but 
hemp  will  keep  such  fellows  from  preying  on  the  honest  part  of 
the  World  I  apprehend  as  long  as  they  live  — 

I  am  both  ashamed  &  chagrined  at  the  Conduct  of  my  old  friend 
Genl.  Willis;5  I  told  him   [Woi'ds   illegible]    delicate   terms   as   I 

1  Mr.  Rich,  Mr.  McDonald,  and  Mr.  Guihnard  on  the  part  of  Great  Bri- 
tain and  Mr.  Innis  and  Mr.  Fitzsimmons  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

2  James  Hogg  and  his  cousin,  John,  were  memhers  of  a  mercantile  firm 
doing  business  in  Wilmington  and  Fayetteville  and  had  suffered  certain  losses 
at  the  hands  of  the  British  during  the  Revolution.  They  were  now  looking 
to  the  commission  for  an  adjustment. 

3  Congress  had  lately  appointed  a  commission  consisting  of  Bushrod  Wash- 
ington of  Virginia,  Fisher  Ames  of  Massachusetts  and  Alfred  Moore  of  North 
Carolina  to  undertake  a  negotiation  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  with  a  view 
extinguishing  their  claims  to  lands  in  Tennessee  that  had  been  granted  by 
North  Carolina  before  the  cession  of  Tennessee  to  the  federal  government. 

4  The  frauds  in  the  land  office,  mentioned  in  a  former  letter  and  explain- 
ed in  note. 

5  I  am  unable  to  determine  who  General  Willis  was,  or  the  import  of  this 
reference.  It  may  have  been  John  Willis  of  Robeson  county,  memtter  of 
State  Senate,  1787-1791,  and  member  of  .the  Commons  1794  and  1795;  also  a 
trustee  of  the  State  University  from  1795  to  1801. 


70  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

could  that  he  was  [Words  illegible]  the  first,  but  I  had  no  concep- 
tion he  would  have  bottomed  his  opposition  in  the  manner  and  on 
the  grounds  his  Petition  held  forth ;  it  seemed  to  be  the  mere  effu- 
sion of  Violent  Passion  directed  against  a  whole  People. 
With  best  regards 

I  am  Dear  Sir 

your  Very  Hum  Ser. 

W.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  Feby  14h.  1798 

Dear  Sir 

I  have  latterly  had  such  a  host  of  letters  to  anewei 
from  different  parts  of  the  State,  that  I  postponed  writing  you  im- 
mediately after  the  rect.  of  yours  of  the  IS  Jany  covering  a  line 
for  Mr  Storey:'  I  am  now  to  acknowledge  that  letter,  also  yours 
of  the  26  same  month  enclosing  the  unfortunate  Generals  paper 
War,  from  which  it  appears  he  so  exposed  his  lines  as  to  suffer  the 
Enemy  to  break  through  them  &  cover  him  icith  disgnn-r 

I  can  assure  you  I  have  felt  not  a  little  Chagrined  at  the  whole 
of  this  affair —  With  you,  and  many  others  I  entertained  a  good 
opinion  of  Genl.  Willis,  and  indeed  had  a  regard  for  him  beyond 
common  friendship,  and  as  I  was  confident  he  knew  it,  I  took  the 
liberty  of  prevailing  on  him  not  to  Contest  the  Election  of  lii> 
opponent,  and  said  more  to  him  on  that  head  than  I  would  to  most 
of  my  acquaintances;  but  he  was  Resolved,  little  did  I  expect  he 
could  or  would  have  gone  on  the  ground  he  has  taken —  I  have 
written  my  mind  to  him  pretty  freely — 

Mr  Storey  will  write  you  in  answer  to  your  letter  to  him,  and 
says  he  will  attend  to  your  Business,  rest  assured  that  I  shall  at  all 
times  aid  him,  in  any  of  your  desires  as  to  Matters  here,  with 
pleasure. 

1  A  Philadelphia  stock  hroker,  referred  to  in  letter  of  date  Dec.,  18, 1767. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publication  71 

I  hope  theCertif.  of  your  Stock  has  reached  you  in  Safety,  anP 
that  you  are  not  dissatisfied  with  what  I  done,  tho'  I  perceive  that 
6pC  have  fallen  to  16/ 8d. 

I  should  advise  you  still  to  lay  out  your  money  in  Bank  Stock, 
a  Share  originally  was  400  Doll,  they  are  over  par  from  20  to  22 
pC —  so  one  share  costs  $4.80.  to  488 —  any  Surplus  over  the  price 
of  a  Share  to  be  laid  out  in  8  pCt. —  so  you  will  have  all  your 
money  Vested;  and  in  case  of  any  uproar,  war  &c.  your  Bank 
Shares  are  safest —  tho'  I  am  of  opinion  all  the  funds  are  secure, 
yet  they  may  not  be  so  in  the  public  estimation —  this  is  said  to  be 
a  fine  time  to  purchase  as  the  uncertainty  of  affairs  have  a  greater 
effect  on  the  Stocks  than  the  risk  warrants  — 

As  I  wrote  you  fully  on  this  subject  before,  I  need  add  nothing 
more;  I  also  asked  you  the  price  of  your  Kentucky  Lands  &c  &c, 
this  however  is  a  bad  Market  I  am  told  for  new  Lands,  yet  I  might 
fall  in  with  some  person  inclined  to  purchase  if  I  could  say  at  what 
price  you  held  them. 

Pray  will  Mr  Moore  accept  the  appoint,  of  Commissioner  to  treat 
with  the  Indians,  it  is  considered  of  importance  here,  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  If  Possible  to  obtain  those  Lands  from  the 
Cherokees —  The  Executive  is  fully  of  this  opinion,  &  therefore  he 
made  so  weighty  an  appointment  as  Moore,  Washington  and  Ames. 
In  consequence  of  the  Death  of  Genl  Skinner  the  Commissr.2  of 
Loans,  our  Senators3  &  Mr  Steele,4  recommended  Colo  Rowans  to 
fill  that  offce,  and  the  President  has  nomenated  him,  he  will  I  sup- 
pose be  concurred  with  by  the  Senate —  &  the  office  will  be  kept  at 
Fayette  Ville  - 

2  Joshua  Skinner,  of  Perquimans  county,  appointed  commissioner  of 
loans  by  President  Washington ;  was  member  of  State  Senate  1790-1794. 

3  Timothy  Bloodworth,  of  New  Hanover,  and  Alexander  Martin  of  Guil- 
ford, both  Republicans.  Bloodworth  succeeded  Benjamin  Hawkins,  Feder- 
alist, in  1795,  and  Martin  succeeded  Samuel  Johnston,  Federalist,  1793. 

4  General  Jul  in  Steele,  of  Salisbury,  comptroller  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury 
under  Washington,  Adams,  and  through  a  part  of  Jefferson's  first  term;  was 
influential  in  the  distribution  of  federal  patronage  in  North  Carolina. 

5  Robert  Rowan,  of  Fayetteville;  Revolutionary  patriot;  first  signer  of  the 
"Cumberland  Association,"  June  20,  1775,  formed  for  the  purpose  of  resis- 
tance to  Britain;  frequently  a  member  of  the  State  legislature  from  the  Revo, 
lution  to  1785. 


72  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

No  accounts  from  our  Envoys  in  France  that  are  official —  son 
late  news  state  that  3  Commissrs.  are  named  to  adjust  difference 
with  them  at  Paris,  bad  news  is  apt  to  travel  fast,  or  I  should  ha\ 
no  hopes  left,  as  things  are,  I  have  yet  some  hopes6  — 

We  have  been  shamefully  perplexed  with  a  Dirty  matter  con 
mitted  in  Congress  Hall,  by  one  of  the  members  on  the  Person  < 
another,7  on  the  outside  of  the  Bar  of  the  House —  you  read  th 
papers  &  need  say  nothing  of  it,  as  those  Vehicles  of  Scandal  ai 
filled  with  it,  to  our  Shame —  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  Lyo 
sfrit  in  the  face  of  Mr  Griswould,  &  we  could  not  expel  him  ft 
this  dirty  assault  —  64  Votes  made  2-3d.  &  52  only  Voted  for  hi 
Expulsion,  44  against  it—  As  an  example  I  wish  he  had  been  Ex 
pelled,  it  is  proper  to  deal  with  severity  against  those  who  sha 
dare  to  Violate  the  Sanctuary  of  a  Deliberative  assembly. 

I  want  to  say  a  great  deal  more  to  you,  but  at  present  have    m 
time —  Remember  me  to  all  friends,  and  be  assured  I  am 
DSir 

with  regard  &  esteem 

y  Hum  Ser 

W  B  Ghovk 

The  Snow  is  6  inches  deep 
&  the  river  again  fast  — 


6  See  Note  4,  letter  of  date  June  24,  1797. 

7  Matthew  Lyon,  member  of  Congress  from  Vermont,  rabid  Republic! 
and  very  much  hated  by  the  Federalists,  made  an  attack  on  the  floor  of  tl 
House  upon  another  member,  Roger  Griswold  of  Connecticut.  The  Hod 
failed  to  expel  him,  though  he  was  later  tried  under  the  Sedition  Act  for  tl 
publication  of  a  letter  in  a  Vermont  paper  severely  criticising  the  governmej 
for  its  "ridiculous  pomp,  foolish  adulation,  and  selfish  avarice."  He  wj 
fined  $1000  and  sent  to  prison  for  four  months.  His  friends  got  up  a  pet 
tion  for  his  pardon,  but  as  he  refused  to  sign  it,  the  President  refused  topi 
dun  him.     But  he  was  triumphantly  re-elected   to   Congress   while  still  i 

i>i.<  a. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  73 

To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  March  23d  1798 

Dear  Sir 

My  Correspondents  have  so  increased  latterly,   which 

addition  to  my  duty,  in  these  unpleasant  times,  to  extend  my 

mmunications   to  my  Constituents,    has    prevented    me    from 

iting  to  you  for  sometime  past  —  your  favour  of  the  21st  ult. 

ne  to  hand  a  few  days  ago,  and   afforded  me  pleasure  to  hear 

n  were  well,  and  that   my   letter  covering  the  Certif.    of   your 

>c^:  had  reached  you  in  safety  —  I  perceive  the  Value  of  Stocks 

h  affected  by  the  very  unpleasant  state  of  affairs  with  France  — 

I  is  to  be  expected  in  any  Country,   but  especially  in  a  young 

iintry  like  ours,  where  Capitals  are  invited  into  a  thousand  other 

mnels  —  I  cannot  think  however  things  can  ever  become  so  des- 

ate  among  us  as  to  induce  a  departure  from  the  plighted  faith 

he  Go  vert.  —  It  may  be  Possible  the  redemption  of   the  2  p  C. 

ital  may  be   diverted  to  more  pressing  objects  —  I  say  thus 

ch  to  you  as  I  presume  you  may    feel   some   anxiety    on    this 

e  —  for  myself  I  feel  none,   having  never  had  one  penny   of 

ided  debt,  or  Bank  stoek  in  my  Life  —  this  has  been  owing  to 

ousand  reasons,  but  one  of  them  alone  was  sufficient — viz  I  had 

ever  in  my  Power  or  inclination  to  purchase  — 

o  you  it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into   detail   on  the  state  of  our 

irs  with  France,'  you  can  &  have  investigated  with  coolness 

candour  the  unremitted  Solicitude  of  the  Govert.   of  the  Uni- 

States  to  maintain  Peace  &  amity  with  the  French,  while  they 

e  been  trying  how  far  they  can  insult   Plunder  &  degrade  us, 

mse  we  were  not  disposed  to  make  our  Country  a  Tool  to  their 

ire  &  ambitions  —  I  have  on  every   occasion  from  the  present 

olution  in  France  felt  and  expressed  the  most  sincere  hope  that 


Tl  e  X.Y.Z.  disclosures  had  reached  Philadelphia  March  5,  and  left 
ins'  government  sorely  pcrpled  and  offended.  Grove,  as  an  ardent  Fed- 
st,  shared  the  sentiments  of  that  party  relative  to  that  course  of  Ameri- 
relations  with  France.  Tn  this  letter  he  is  adroitly  using  the  insult  from 
ice  to  justify  to  his  constituents  his  well  known  anti-French  attitude. 


74  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

the  event  might  terminate  speedily  in  a  Government  calculated  to 
make  them  a  Free  &  Happy  People  —  and  while  I  lamented  <fc 
Shuddered  at  many  oi  the  transactions  of  that  Country,  I  still 
hoped  and  believed  for  a  long  time,  that  each  of  those  horrid  events. 
would  be  the  last  act  of  Disgrace  &  Tyranny  that  should  lie  com- 
mitted vuider  "Fair  Liberty's  sacred  name"  —  But  alas!  how  silly 
have  I  been  as  well  as  thousands  of  others  on  this  Subject  — 

Ambition,  avarice,  &  Bloody  Revenge  seems  now  to  be  the  order 
of  the  Day  among  the  Rulers  of  France,  and  these,  they  seem  to 
deal  out  to  the  Nations  around  as  if  they  meant  to  destroy  the 
Wourld —  Even  the  Peaceful  and  unoffending  Americans  must  par- 
take of  their  overflowing  Wrath  —  our  increasing  Wealth  &  happi- 
ness has  become  painful  to  them —  and  as  we  were  once  their 
allies  they  seem  disposed  to  treat  us,  as  they  have  their  own  Coun- 
try, &  reduce  us  to  a  State  of  Poverty,  &  wretched  ie  they 
have  Holland  — 

With  all  my  attachment  to  the  Cause  of  the  French,  let  me  here 
avow  what  I  defy  the  Wourld  to  deny,  that  my  Love,  Veneration  & 
Duty  to  my  own  Country  was  never  shaken,  by  the  blaze  of  French 
Victories,  or  any  other  Circumstance  on  earth — and  I  can  look 
back  with  pleasure  to  every  Vote  I  gave  from  the  days  of  Genet" 
to  the  present  moment,  and  console  myself  that  those  votes  have 
been  in  support  of  our  own  Govert.  and  the  genuine  principles  of 
Neutrality-  that  was  adopted.  —  even  in  1794  when  British  Depred. 
had  agitated  &  inflamed  all  our  Minds,  I  had  the  good  fortune  t«» 
be  on  the  Side  of  Moderation  and  Negociation,  tho  it  was  then 
called  a  Pussillanimous  measure  by  men  who  now  are  as  gentle  as 
Lambs  in  the  Case  of  France  who  have  denied  to  Negociate  with 
us,  altho  We  have  made  two  attempts. 

1  have  taken  the  liberty  to  write  of  myself  thus  freely  to  yon, 
to  whom  I  am  in  some  degree  accountable  as  a  friend,  and  my 
constituent.  — 

The  Presidents  last  Message  on  the  19th.  March  exorting   us  to 

2  Edmond  Charles  Genet,  first  minister  of  the  French  Republic  to  the 
United  States,  arrived  in  1793.  Genet  insisted  upon  disregarding  American 
neutralitybetween  England  and  France;  treated  President  Washington  in  a 
very  boorish  manner  and  finally  forced  the  government  to  request  his  recall. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  75 

take  vigorous  measures  for  the  Defense  of  the  Country  &  Com- 
merce of  the  Nation  in  case  of  the  worst,  is  called  here  a  Declara- 
tion of  War  &  is  highly  Censured  by  those  who  have  generally  op- 
posed every  measure  of  the  Admisn.  since  the  Present  War  has 
commenced  in  Europe  —  While  General  Washington  was  Presi- 
dent, the  same  opposition  existed  as  does  now,  for  Mr  Adams  has 
adopted  and  avowed  he  will  pursue  the  same  line  of  Conduct  & 
Principles  —  But  let  it  be  remembered  that  Mr  Adams  Character 
however  irreproachable  it  certainly  is,  does  not  carry  with  it  that 
Confedence  &  Veneration  which  was  entertained  for  Genl.  Wash- 
ington's, particularly  in  the  Southern  Country —  It  is  therefore  of 
the  utmost  importance  at  a  time  like  the  present,  that  all  men  who 
regard  the  Honour  &  interests  of  the  Country,  should  come  out 
Boldly  &  plainly  to  Inculcate  union,  &  Confidence  in  the  Govern- 
ment. 

I  mean  that  union  of  Sentiment  whereby  every  Man  pledges 
himself  to  stand  by  his  Country  and  support  the  National  Politi- 
cal institutions  thereof,  which  secures  to  all  in  the  Community 
Life,  Liberty,  &  Property  —  and  that  Honest  Confidence,  which 
examines  and  appreciates  with  Candour  the  acts  of  Public  Men  & 
measures.  —  It  is  said  and  believed  by  some,  that  the  French  have 
been  taught  to  consider  us  to  the  Southward  as  Devoted  to  their 
Will,  and  from  a  persuasion  of  tins  kind  they  expect  to  Divide 
Distract  and  Govern  us  —  the  Idea  is  as  false  as  tis  Degrading  to 
our  Country,  and  I  feel  Confidt.  If  it  should  be  ever  Necessary  to 
Defend  and  Protect  ourselves  against  an  Invading  Enemy,3  the 
People  to  the  South  will  to  a  man  repel  the  Foe,  whether  he  comes 
under  the  name  of  a  British,  or  Spanish  Monarchy  or  a  French 
Republic  —  I  have  written  fully  to  many  of  my  friends  in  N.  C. 
on  this  subject,  and  I  can  not  help  adding  that  I  hope  a  true 
American  Spirit  of  attachment  and  regard  for  our  Government 
may  evidence  itself  among  the  People,  and  that  they  may  set  a 
noble  example  of  Self-respect,  and  Veneration  for  the  Constituted 
authorities  of  their  Country  —  If  they  do  not,  We  may  become  the 

3  (irove  is  anticipating  war  with  France,  a  thing  narrowly  averted  by  Presi- 
dent Adams'  second  mission  to  France  in  February,  1799.  Indeed  naval  war 
had  already  begun. 


76  James  Spnint  Historical  Publications 

Sport  of  Foreign  intrigues,  and  intestine  Broils  —  and  the  Fate  of 
Poland  may  be  our  Lot —  If  so,  it  were  better  our  Ancestors  bad 
never  found  this  New  Wourld  — 

Remember  me  to  all  friends,  &  Be  assured  I  am 
Dear  Sir 

Your  friend 

&  Humble  Sert. 

\V.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

Phila.  May  29th  1798 

Dear  Sir 

I  am  now  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  several 
favors  of  the  17h.  April,  2d.  &  16th.  xMay  from  Fayette  Ville— in 
reply  to  the  former  I  can  assure  you  [One  word  illegible]  glad  to 
find  the  affairs  of  our  University  are  getting  forward  so  cleverly  — 
the  Friends  &  promoters  of  that  Institution  are  the  real  Patriots  «>t' 
No.  Carolina.' 

I  can  not  but  feel  much  satisfaction  in  the  account  I  receive  from 
Various  parts  of  the  State,  that  it  is  likely  our  representation1  in 
Congress  will  be  more  respectable  for  Talents  &  proper  qualifica- 
tions for  such  a  Situation —  I  can  not  help  thinking  that  one  of 
the  greatest  causes  of  the  loss  of  Confidence  of  many  in  the  Feder- 
al government  arises  from  that  Source  —  How  in  the  name  of  God 
is  any  Government  to  act  wisely,  or  remain  Reputable  in  the  eyei 


1  (Trove  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  for  the  University  from 
1789  to  1818 ;  his  correspondent,  James  Hogg,  was  a  trustee  from  1789  to  1802. 
Both  wire  deeply  interested  in  its  fortunes. 

2  At  the  date  Grove  writes  he  was  the  ouly,  Federalist  in  Congress  from 
North  Carolina.  The  French  war  scare  and  the  popularity  the  government 
derived  from  its  prompt  resentment  of  France's  course  in  the  X.Y.Z.  affair 
caused  North  Carolina  to  return  four  Federalists  in  1799,  these  being  Grove, 
Archibald  Henderson,  Win.  H.  Hill,  and  Joseph  Dixon.  North  Caralina  bad 
ten  representatives  in  all  at  this  date. 


James  Sprnnt  Historical  Publications  77 

of  a  Jealous  &  discerning  People,  If  they  themselves  appoint  Men 
totally  incapable  of  thinking  or  acting  on  the  great  affairs  of  a 
great  Nation  —  permit  me  my  good  Sir,  to  say,  what  I  do,  with 
sincere  regret.  I  lament  there  are  too  many  of  this  discription  in 
the  Counsils  of  our  Country,  who  are  more  the  Representatives  of 
Prejudice  and  illiberal  Suspicion,  than  of  the  true  interests  and 
sound  policy  of  the  U  States.  I  will  add  what  I  am  sure  you  and 
every  reflecting  Man  in  your  District  already  knows  full  well,  that 
your  member3  is  not  among  the  most  enlightened,  of  the  most  ignorant ;  — 
and  to  learn  that  he  is  likely  to  have  a  majority  of  the  Suffrages  of 
so  Respectable  a  District  again  is  certainly  a  singular  thing,  unless 
indeed  you  are  Resolved  to  Satirize  Congress  as  some  suggest. 

Let  me  here  assure  you  I  am  not  actuated  by  Personal  feelings, 
or  difference  in  Politics  to  make  these  remarks  —  they  spring  from 
a  higher  Motive.  - 

Your  remarks  on  Mr  Harpers4  speech  are  in  a  great  degree  just 
enough,  but  as  false  Religion  has  been  made  the  Cloak  for  great 
Vjces,  so  has  a  pretended  Philosiphy  been  the  ground  work  of  Vast 
mischiefs  —  In  the  eyes  of  the  discreet  &  discerning,  true  Religion , 
&  real  Philosophy,  should  not  loose  any  of  their  important  &  Di- 
vine influence,  because  base  men  have  prostituted  both  by  false 
pretentions  — 

Your  observations  relative  to  the  incorrect  information  on  the 
real  State  of  affairs  among  the  great  mass  of  the  People,  &  the 
causes  of  it  correspond  entirely  with  my  own  opinion ;  to  find  fault, 
abuse,  and  write  infamous  insinuations  to  Degrade  our  own  Gov- 
ernment, is  the  highth  of  some  Mens  Ambition,  &  the  greatest  evi- 


3  Grove's  party  bias  incapacftated  him  for  a  fair  estimate  of  his  party  ap- 
ponents.  His  reference  here  is  to  Nathaniel  Macon,  Republican  representa- 
tive of  the  Hillsboro  District  (Warren,  Franklin,  Granville,  Wake,  and 
Orange  counties)  from  1791  to  1815,  in  the  latter  year  entering  the  United 
States  Senate  where  he  served  until  1828,  resigning  because  of  advancing 
age.  Macon  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  1801  to  1806. 
Without  showy  qualities,  Macon  possessed  a  keen,  though  perhaps  some- 
what narrow  intellect,  and  was  unquestionably  one  of  the  ablest  legislators  in 
Congress  during  his  thirty -seven  years  of  continuous  service. 

4  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  an  able  and  active  Federalist  member  of  Con- 
gress from  South  Carolina. 


78  James  Sprvnt  Historical  Publications 

dence  of  their  attention  to  the  Happiness  &  interests  of  their  Coun- 
try men; —  their  object  is  to  flatter  the  ignorant,  <fe  to  increase 
their  own  Consequence  among  the  Malcontents;  this  Kind  of  Patri- 
otic information  is  jumbled  together  in  a  printed  Circular  and  sent 
throughout  the  Country  to  Poison  the  People  like  the  effluvia  which 
rises  from  this  City  in  the  time  of  a  Pestilence —  I  now  and  then 
get  a  squint  at  these  effusions  of  Congressional  Literature,  &  base- 
ness —  for  I  consider  it  the  basest  act  on  earth  to  libel  and  Degrade 
ones  own  Country  — 

I  have  lately  seen  a  printed  letter  of  this  kind  by  chance,  sent 
by  a  Colleague  to  the  Western  District,  I  say  sent,  for  tis  evidently 
not  penned  by  him  —  tis  replete  with  charges  &  insinuations  the 
most  false  and  inimical  to  the  Union,  &  the  Independence  of 
America  —  and  to  confidence  in  the  Government  of  our  Country 
that  you  can  Conceive,  and  in  my  opinion  If  the  People  can  rely 
fully  and  implicitly  on  the  Information,  they  should  resist  the 
authority  of  their  own  Governt.  —  If  a  Copy  of  this  Letter  can  be 
had  it  will  be  and  must  be  published  —  and  indeed  I  am  not  sure 
but  some  further  notice  must  be  taken  of  it  —  the  name  of  .lot- 
McDowell5  is  annexed  to  the  letter  I  allude  to  —  and  my  reason  for 
Supposing  he  did  not  pen  it,  is  that  tis  generally  spelt  right,  c\r  the 
stile  &  grammer  is  tolerable  tho  this  may  have  been  done  for  him 
by  a  contemptable  wretch  here  named  Calendar6  who  tis  said  gets 
his  bread  by  writing  circulers  for  the  more  illiterate  Jacobin  Mem- 

5  ColonelJoseph  McDowell  is  here  meant.  He  was  a  Republican  of  the 
strongest  type,  and  representative  in  Congress  of  the  Western  District  of 
North  Carolina  from  1793  to  1795  and  from  1797  to  1799.  Colonel  McDowell 
was  a  major  at  the  battles  of  Cowpens  and  King's  Mountain ;  after  the  Revo- 
lution was  often  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly;  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Constitution  Convention  of  1788;  also  a  commissioner  to  run  the  divid- 
ing line  between  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee.     He  died  in  August,  1801. 

6  James  Thompson  Callender,  a  Scotchman,  serving  as  a  hack  writer  for 
the  Republicans  in  their  attacks  upon  the  Federalist  Administration.  He 
was  frequently  used  even  by  Jefferson  himself  to  perform  unsavory  political 
tasks.  In  1800  Callender  was  tried  under  the  Sedition  Law  for  the  produc- 
tion and  publication  of  *  'The  Prospect  Before  Us, "  an  attack  upon  Adams 
and  the  administration .  A  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars  and  imprisonment 
for  nine  months  failed  to  reform  him,  he  devoting  the  period  of  imprison- 
ment to  the  production  of  further  scurrilous  pamphlets. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  79 

bers7  of  Congress. 

I  made  the  enquiry  you  desired  about  Messrs.  Laird  &  Edie, 
and  learn  that  no  claims  from  them  are  before  the  Board  — Very 
few  claims  are  before  the  Commissrs.,8  their  Determination  on 
these  will  establish  the  Principles  that  will  govern  them  on  all 
Similar  cases,  &  We  are  in  great  fear  that  very  different  Construc- 
tions are  intended  to  be  put  on  the  6th.  artic.  of  the  Treaty  than 
we  expected,  which  will  have  a  Very  unpleasant  &  arbitrary,  nay 
unjust,  operation  on  the  U.  States. 

I  can  assure  you  that  I  feel  much  gratified  that  your  prospects 
are  so  favorable  from  the  rising  Value  of  your  Western  Lands  — 
and  I  hope  they  may  enable  you  to  get  through  any  and  all  old 
embarrassments  which  has  given  you  so  much  anxiety  —  It  is  said 
that  Kentucky  Lands  in  the  old  Settlements  are  rather  on  the  fall , 
perhaps  your's  may  rise  in  proportion  being  on  the  frontier. 

Your  last  of  the  16th.  from  F.  Ville  I  can  not  now  answer,  as  I 
have  seen  none  of  the  Heirs  of  Mr  Morriss9  to  taulk  to  them  on  the 
subject  of  your  letter,  but  I  will  attend  to  its  object.  - 

We  had  not  learned  by  last  accounts  that  our  Commissrs'0  had 
left  France,  and  We  are  astonished  at  their  remaining  in  that 
Country  after  assurances  they  would  leave  it  before  now,  &  the 
accos.  of  Negotiations  being  Commenced  is  without  Foundation — 
I  fear  they  have  been  Deluded  to  remain  under  Various  pretexts, 
for  the  insiduous  purposes  of  keeping  alive  the  hopes  &  designs  of 
their  friends  among  us,  while  they  were  preparing  to  take  more 
Hostile  measures  against  us. 

Our  Coast -Bays,  &  mouths  of  Rivers  have  been  for  some  time 
past  swarming  with  French  Picaroons  &  Privateers  who  take  all 
Vessels  they  meet  with  in,  or  outward  Bound  —  Our  Small  Fleet 
will  soon  be  at  Sea,  &  We  have  Authorized  the  taking  &c  all  such 
Piratical  armed  Vessels  as  may  be  found  on  our  Coast  Committing 

7  The  Republicans  were  called  Jacobins  by  the  Federalists  because  of  their 
pro-French  sympathies. 

8  Commissioners  on  British  Debts,  already  noted. 

9  Reference  to  the  settlement  of  an  estate  of  which  Grove  was  administra- 
tor. 

10  Adams'  first  commission,  Pinckney,  Gerry,  and  Marshall. 


80  James  Sprttnt  Historical  Publications 

Depredations  on  our  Peaceful  Commerce  -  this  measure  the  oppo- 
sition gentry  have  the  folly  &  impudence  to  call  waging  ioar"  on 
the  French  -  thus  to  Defend  our  property  &  Country  against  the 
basest  plunderers,  brings  upon  the  Adminisn.  the  Vilest  epithets - 
and  charges  of  partiality  for  Britain  -  These  Gentlemen  even  try  to 
induce  a  Belief  that  all  the  Conversation  of  our  Commissrs  in 
Paris  was  with  a  lot  of  Swindlers  &c.  &c.  —  &  that  the  great 
Directory  had  no  hand  in  the  Business  — 

However  a  Genel.  Hedonville  who  the  French  have  lately  sent 
to  Command  in  the  Ws.  Indies  having  seen  the  Dispatches  were 
published  in  this  Country,  has  written  to  the  French  Consul  here, 
a  letter  which  he  and  their  Emissaries  in  this  Country  thought 
might  lie  useful  in  taking  off  part  of  the  odium  on  the  French 
Govert.  &  it  has  been  published —  but  that  letter  Confirms  if  any 
Conformation  was  wanting  that  the  French  Govert.  had  Resolved 
to  demand  of  us  Contributions  &c  &c. 

I  shall  end  this  letter  by  saying  If  I  did  not  see  a  Spirit  among 
some  People  to  prostrate  our  Country  &  its  Independence  to  France, 
I  should  feel  no  fear  or  apprehension  from  any  Foreign  Nation  on 
earth,  for  I  verily  believe  we  have  little  to  fear  from  any  Nation 
except  that  Ambitious  &  avaricious  quarter  - 

With  best  respects  to  all  friends  I  am 

Dear  Sir 
your  friend 

&  Hum  Sert. 

W.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

Philadelphia  July  8,  17.98 

Dear  Sir 

I  wrote  you  a  line  immediately  on  the  arrival  of  Genl. 

11  Desultory  naval  warfare  .begun  with  France  almost  immediately  after 
the  X.Y.Z.  disclosures. 


James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  81 

Marshall/  &  informed  you  of  our  expectation  that  your  friend  Genl 
Pinckney  would  soon  be  with  us,  as  he  left  Paris  about  the  15th. 
of  April  and  went  to  the  South  of  France  only  for  a  short  time  to 
recruit  the  Health  of  his  Daughter  -  since  that  we  have  no  accounts 
of  him,  I  earnestly  wish  for  his  arrival  &  Safety. 

Mr  Gerry2  remained  in  consequence  of  Tallyrand's  intimation, 
&  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  his  Colleagues,  &  of  Genl  Pinckney 's 
in  particular  -  this  conduct  of  Mr  G.  has  excited  some  uneasiness, 
more  especially  as  tis  an  evidence  of  "the  Diplomatic  Skill  of 
France"  to  Divide  and  Disunite  us  -  his  friends  seem  confident  he 
will  do  nothing  to  dishonour  himself,  or  the  Nation,  and  yet  his 
obstinacy  may  increase  our  Difficulties  by  keeping  alive  the  Spirit 
of  the  Partizans  of  France  among  us,  for  it  begins  now  to  appear 
pretty  clearly  that  this  Country  must  either  become  Tributary  to 
France,  or  Defend  itself  with  Vigour  &  energy  -  The  latter  is  cer- 
tainly the  Choice  of  all  Men  who  regard  the  Independence,  or  rights 
of  a  Free  People,  and  under  this  impression  Congress  have  acted 
since  the  Views  of  France  have  been  fully  unfolded  -  If  We  are 
united  &  true  to  each  other,  We  can  procure  Justice  &  an  honor- 
able indemnification,  &  will  prove  to  the  World,  that  tho'  We  are 
slow  to  take  Arms  even  to  avenge  our  Wrongs,  yet  when  insulted 
into  resentment,  We  will  act  like  Men  who  know  the  Value  of  our 
rights,  &  who  are  Resolved  to  Defend  them  at  the  risk  of  every 
thing  -  We  have  greatly  augmented  our  Maratime  force,  &  from 
the  public  spirit  of  the  monied  men  in  the  great  towns,  It  is  ex- 
pected we  shall  add  several  Frigates  &c  to  our  little  Fleet  -  private 
Subscripns.  to  an  immense  amount  is  obtained  in  Boston,  N.  York, 
Phila.  Baltimore  &c.  to  Build  Ships  to  be  loaned  to  Government - 
We  have  authorized  the  increase  of  our  Military  establishment  to 
ten  thousand  Men,  In  addition  to  a  Provisional  Army  of  the  same 
number,  &  such  Volunteer  Corps  as  may  offer  their  services  under 
the  2d  clause  of  this  Law.  - 

1  John  Marshall,  of  Virginia,  one  of  the  commissioners  to  France,  recent- 
ly returned  to  the  United  States. 

2  Elbridge  Gerry,  the  only  Republican  member  of  the  commission,  at  the 
invitation  of  Tallyrand,  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  remained  at  Paris 
and  had  some  further  negotiations  with  the  French  government  after  his  coi- 


S2  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publications 

Need  I  tell  you  that  all  our  preparations  for  Defence  will  require 
additional  funds,  We  shall  however  try  to  apportion  the  sums  to 
be  raised  in  as  equitable  a  manner  as  possible. 

It  is  proposed  to  raise  2  Million  of  Dollars  in  the  U.  States  on 
Houses,  Lands,  &  Negroes,  the  latter  are  to  be  rated  at  half  a  Dol- 
lar pr  head  from  12  to  50  years  of  age  -  Houses  &  Lands  are  to  be 
valued  &  pay  a  Certain  pr.  Centageon  their  value -each  State  paye 
their  own  quota,  according  to  the  Number  of  Inhabitants  -  White 
Polls  pay  nothing. 

I  hoped  to  have  been  at  Home  before  now,  and  {.Remainder  of 
letter  missing.] 


To  James  Hogg. 


have  the  utmost  respect  &  Confidence  in  Mr  H  integrity  &  good  Poli-cy" 
yet  they  are  not  so  drilled  as  the  opposition  generally  arc,  Not  to 
dare  to  express  an  opinion  contrary  to  the  sentiments  of  a  Jef  -  -  n, 
a  Gall  -  -  n,3  or  a  Nicholas4  —  Tis  probable  from  the  Divisions  in 
the  Legislature  of  this  State  as  to  the  mode  of  Electing  Electors," 
that  they  will  have  no  vote;  The  Federal  Men  desire  that  Electors 

leagues  had  departed,  thus  incurring  the  severe  displeasure  of  the  adminis. 
tration  and  the  Federalist  party  generally. 

1  The  beginning  of  this  letter  is  missing.  Its  precise  date  cannot  be  de- 
termined, but  from  the  content  we  know  it  to  have  been  written  a  short  time 
before  the  presidential  election  of  1800. 

2  Thomas  Jefferson . 

3  Albert  Gallatin  of  Pennsylvania. 

4  John  Nicholas,  Representative  in  Congress  from  Virginia  and  a  staunch 
Republican. 

5  Grove  wrote  from  Philadelphia.  At  that  date,  like  all  the  other  States, 
three  excepted,  Pennsylvania  chose  her  presidential  electors  in  joint  session 
of  her  legislature.  In  1800  the  Senate  being  Federalist  and  the  House  Repub- 
lican, there  was  a  deadlock,  the  Senate  hoping  to  defeat  the  will  of  tin  Re- 
publican majority  by  refusing  to  go  into  joint  session,  thus  to  prevent  the 
vote  of  the  State  being  cast  at  all.  A  compromise  was  finally  reached  by 
which  Adams  was  given  seven  votes  and  Jefferson  eight. 


James  Sjyrunt  Historical  Publications  83 

should  be  appointed  by  Districts,  the  other   party,   as  in  Virgia. 
want  a  general  ticket  by  which  Faction   &    party    have   a   greater 
field  to  display  itself,  &  the  People  are  obliged    to  vote  for  many 
Men  they  know  nothing  of  - 

New  York  appoint  by  joint  Ballot  and  no  doubt  is  entertained 
but  Mr  Adams  will  have  the  whole  of  that  State,  also  Jersey  and 
the  whole  of  the  Eastern  States  -  Deleware  -  and  perhaps  the  whole 
of  Maryland,  as  the  State  Legislature  have  it  in  contemplation   to 
meet  for  the  express  purpose  of   Appointing   the   Electors   them- 
selves, to  counteract  the  new  Virginia  plan.6     Tf    Maryland   elect 
Districts,  it  is  supposed  Adams  will  have  7  —  I  do  hope  that   our 
State  will  not  be  so  completely  under  the  guidance  of  her  overgrown, 
imperious  Sister   again   the   dupe   of   her  local    and   insinuating 
intrigues  as  upon  a  former  occasion;7  and  tho'  Commissioners  may 
be  again  sent  to  reside  near  our  Board  of  Electors,    and    Coax,    or 
threaten  them  —  I  trust  they  will  prove  of  no  avail ,  and  that  every 
Federal  Man  may  be  as  firm  as  Martin,  of  Moore,  who  I  hope  will 
be  our  Elector  from  F.  Ville8  again,  and  tho'  him  and  myself  have 
some  cause  to  be  chagrined,  at  his  not  having  been  offered  a   Cap- 
taincy upon  my  recommendation  &  without  his  knowledge,  yet  I 
am  persuaded  he  is  above  a   resentment  on  the  Country,  by  not 
voting  for  Adams  because  there  seems  to  have  been  some  inatten- 
tion or  mistake,  in  paying  that  respect  to  him  which  his  conduct 
merited  - 1  have  explained  the  thing  to  him  as  far  as  I  am  Capa- 
ble from  the  information  I  have  had  -  &  the  neglect  has  produced 
some  censure  on  the  War  Depart,  here,  among  those  who  the  thing 
has  been  mentioned  to  -  But  the  President   knew  nothing  of  this 
matter,  till  latterly  - 

Genl.  Pinckney,9  or  Major  Pinckney10  is  taulkedof  as  Vice  P-  by 

6  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Maryland  chose  electors  by  popular  vote 
in  districts. 

7  A  reference  to  Virginia's  influence,  politically  upon  North  Carolina,  es- 
pecially in  the  election  of  1790  when  the  North  Carolina  Federalists  carried 
only  one  electoral  vote  for  Adams. 

8  Fayette  ville,  Grove' s  home. 

9  Charles  C.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  Federalist  vice-presidential  can- 
didate in  1800  and  presidential  candidate  in  1804.  In  1800  Adams  and 
Pinckney  secured  65  electoral  votes  as  against  73  for  Jefferson  and  Burr. 


84  James  Sjirunt  Historical  Publications 

the  Federal  side-  I  dont  know  the  Genl.,  but  what  I  hear  he  is  a 
man  of  more  eclat  of  Character,  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe  We 
have  few  men  in  our  Country  possessing  more  of  the  qualities  of 
Washington  than  Major  P —  He  is  not  a  great  Orator,  but  he  is  a 
man  of  excellent  practical  sense,  and  Classical  Education  -a  per- 
fect Gentleman  in  his  manners,  Firm,  mild,  unaffected,  &  Dignified 
in  his  Deportment;  commanding  at  once  respect,  and  Esteem  from 
all  who  are  in  his  Company.  - 

It  is  supposed  however  by  some  that  the  Genl,  is  the  most  Pop- 
ular, &  more  likely  to  succeed  in  getting  Votes  as  he  is  more  Per- 
sonally known  in  many  of  the  States,  and  is  a  very  pleasant  Com- 
panionable Man- 

As  the  latest  European  news  is  by  the  way  of  Charleston,  I  pre- 
sume you  will  have  seen  the  accounts  before  we  had  them  here  - 
the  only  matters  of  importance  is  the  new  Constitun."  of  France; 
&  the  Correspondence  between  Consul  Buonaparte  &  Lord  (in  n- 
ville'2  about  Peace  - 

The  Constitution  seems  to  me  to  be  a  strange  mixture  of  Despo- 
tism, and  insult  offered  to  the  nation,  with  Liberty  equality  &  Re- 
publicanism, hashed  up  in  the  French  stile,  to  hide  from  the  most 
Vulgar  &  Ignorant,  the  Contemptahle  &  deplorable  Situation  the 
great  Mass  of  the  People  are  brought  to  by  their  own  folly,  and 
the  Infamous  treachery  of  most  of  their  Pretended  Patriots  -  What 
is  to  be  the  end  of  the  Colossal  Consul,  &  his  Government  is  not 
easy  to  conjecture  in  a  nation  like  France,  where  nothing  is  to  be 
calculated  on  the  ground  of  Reason  or  experience  -  some  think  He 
will  soon  share  the  fate  of  Caesar,  whilst  others  expect  He  will 
become  a  second  Cromwell,  and  make  Crowned  Heads  tremble  on 
their  throne,  and  renovate  the  energies  of  his  Nation  -  It  seems 
from  the  reply  of  Lord  Grenville,   that  notwithstanding  the  New 

10  Thomas  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  Federalist  vice-presidential  can- 
didate in  1796  and  a  brother  of  C.  C.  Pinckney. 

11  The  French  Directory  was  overthrown  by  Bonaparte  in  November, 
1799,  and  the  Consulate  set  up  under  a  constitution  that  pave  Bonaparte 
supreme  power. 

12  Lord  William  Grenville,  England's  Foreign  Minister  in  the  younger 
Pitt's  cabinet,  resigned  office  February  1801 ;  Prime  Minister  1806-1807. 


Jani£S  Sprunt  Historical  Publications  85 

King13  had  written  in  Very  flattering  terms  to  his  Brother  of  Eng- 
land, the  old  King1*  seems  to  have  Very  little  Confidence  in  his 
proposals,  &  recommends  him  to  restore  the  antient  Princes,  tho  he 
does  not  make  that  a  Sine  qua  non  to  a  Peace15  - 

We  are  in  hourly  expectations  of  hearing  from  the  Envoys,  and 
think  it  somewhat  Strange  that  Capt.  Barry  does  not  return  -  It  is 
fully  expected  from  the  Complexion  of  affairs  that  all  our  differ- 
ences will  he  amicably  settled  and  If  the  French  let  lis  alone,  they 
may  have  a  Revolution  every  decade  if  they  please  - 

I  was  not  a  little  Vexed  at  seeing  in  Gales17  paper  a  censure  on 
Cap.  Truxton'8  for  having  so  Gallantly  heat  the  French  54-  Such 
actions  will  tend  more  to  insure  Justice  and  Respect  from  France, 
and  the  World,  than  a  thousand  whining  speeches  in  Congress 
about  Peace,  the  Power  of  France,  and  the  inability  of  this  Coun- 
try to  Defend  her  national  rights  on  the  Ocean - 

'Tis  very  late  at  night — please    Remember   me  to  Mr   Alves. 
I  am 

Dr  Sir 

Yr  Huml  Sert 

W  B  Grove 


13  A  contemptuous  reference  to  Bonaparte  and  his  assumption  of  Sover- 
eign authority  in  France. 

14  George  III. 

15  These  negotiations  ultimately  led  to  a  temporary  peace  between  Bona- 
parte and  England  signed  at  Amiens  in  March,  1802. 

16  This  was  Adams'  famous  second  mission  to  France,  composed  of  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  Wm,  Vans  Murray,  and  William  R.  Davie. 

17  Joseph  Gates,  editor  of  tin*  RaleigJi.  Register.  This  paper  was  established 
at  llaleigh  in  1789  as  the  organ  of  the  Republican  party  in  North  ('arolina. 

18  Barry  and  Truxton  were  Commodores  in  the  American  Navy.  Desul- 
tory sea-fighting  with  France  proceeded  in  1799  and  1800  while  the  negotia- 
tions of  Adams'  second  commission  were  under  way.  In  February,  1800, 
Commodore  Truxton,  in  command  of  tne  American  frigate  Constellation, 
attacked  the  French  fifty-four  gun  frigate,  La  Vengeance,  off  Basseterre  and 
after  a  long  drawn  out  and  desperate  engagement  put  her  to  flight. 

19  Walter  Alves,  brother  of  Mrs.  James  Hogg  and  member  from  Orange 
county  of  the  lower  branch  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1793,  1794,  1795;  also 
Treasurer,  Secretary,  and  Trustee  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  He 
later  removed  to  Kentucky  and  settled  near  Henderson  in  that  State. 


86  James  Sprunt  Historical  Publication* 

To  James  Hogg. 

Raleigh  14th.  March  1801 

Dear  Sir 

Some  Business  led  me  to  take  Halifax  in  my  way 
Home,  that  circumstance  prevents  me  from  adding  to  the  length 
of  my  journey  by  calling  at  your  place -Before  this  you  will  have 
seen  Mr  Jeffersons  address  to  the  public  at  his  inauguration."  which 
many  think  very  clever  and  as  moderate  as  could  be  expected  - 

If  we  compare  it  with  those  writings  attributed  to  Mr  J.  viz  his 
letter  to  Mazzini  &c.  — one  of  two  things  occurs,  either  that  he  is 
a  great  Hypocrite,  or  that  his  Notions  of  our  Constitution  is  great- 
ly changed-  In  his  letter  he  says  "they  have  given  us  the 
forms  of  the  British  Governt,  &  now  endeavoring  to  give  us  the 
Substance"  -in  his  address  our  Constitution  is  ilie  bed  &  Strongest, 
&  the  World 8  last  hope  &c 

However,  these  are  only  trifles  to  the  inconsistences  cfe  evidences 
of  Mr  Jeffersons  arts  &  machivelian  policy  to  get  at  the  head  of 
American  affairs;  I  earnestly  hope  &  pray  we  may  have  no  worse 
proofs  of  those  arts  &  that  policy,  than  his  words  &  inconsistencies  - 

It  is  very  certain  our  new  Admin,  have  very  strong  prejudices 
against  Britain,  &  partiality  for  France,  but  they  are  aware  that 
tho'  they  expressed  &  inculcated  those  sentiments  heretofore,  that 
now  they  are  Responsible  for  the  Peace  of  the  Country,  having  the 
direction  of  the  Government,  it  will  not  do  to  indulge  in  those  feel- 
ings to  the  extent  of  their  wishes,  as  it  might  endanger  their  Popu- 
larity with  the  nation,  who  regard  Peace  &  Commerce  with  our 
best  Customers  as  a  primary  object  —  this  is  a  circumstance  ol 
which  Mr  J.  &  his  friends  are  fully  aware  of,  &  will  tend  to  cheek 
their  hatred,  &  partiality  not  a  little  —  for  tho'  these  impressions 
are  strongly  rooted  in  many  of  them,  yet  the.  vmh  &  Love  of  Popu~ 

1  The  Federalist  party  had  heen  overturned  in  1800  and  Jpfferson,  regard- 
ed hy  his  party  opponents  as  a  rabid  radical  in  whose  hands  the  fate  of  the 
country  was  unsafe,  was  inaugurated  president  March  4th  1801.  (iiuve  was 
correspondingly  disgruntled.  However,  Grove  was  able  to  again  effect  bis 
own  re-election  to  Congres1-  this  year,  but  this  proved  to  lx'  his  last  term. 


James  Sprvnt  Historical  Publications  8/ 

larity  in  the  new  Adminn.  will  in  my  opinion  bear  down    all  other 
considerations  — 

As  I  presume  you  have  seen  Mr  Henderson,2 1  suppose,  you  have 
rec'd  from  him  all  the  news  of  the  day  that  I  am  possessed  of, 
therefore  I  shall  add  nothing  more  at  present  - 

The  Certift.  about  your  Funded  debt,  I  will  forward  you  at  some 
other  time  after  I  get  home  —  I  could  not  get  any  Bank  notes  at 
Washington,3  but  Columbia  Rank  notes,  and  I  was  informed  they 
did  not  pass  freely  in  this  State,  or  to  the  Westward,  owing  to  the 
small  intercourse  between  the  trading  part  of  the  Community  & 
tiie  new  City -I  reed,  three  quarters  Dividends  of  your  Funded 
debt  amounting  to  $131  -as  well  as  I  now  remember,  but  when  we 
meet,  I  will  furnish  you  with  an  exact  acct.  in  the  mean  time  I 
enclose  you  $109  -  including  one  bank  note  of  $10  -  If  I  am  not  at 
your  next  Supr.  Court,  I  hope  to  see  you  at  Fayette  - 

In  the  mean  time  I  am 

with  real  regard 

Dr  Sir 

Yr.  Hum  hi  Sert 

W.  B.  Grove 


To  James  Hogg. 

Washington  9th.  March  1802 
Dear  Sir 

Had  anything  very  interesting  occurred  here,  I 
would  have  done  myself  the  pleasure  of  troubling  you  with  a  let- 
ter before  now  —  You  will  have  seen  in  the  News  papers,  the 
course  &  progress  of  Public  measure  under  the  new  Adminisn.  — 
time,  and  wise  men,  will  unfold  how  far  some  of  those  measures 
are  consistent  with  the  Constitution  &  real  interests  of  the  Nation- 
To  undo,  much  of  what  had  been  done  under  former  Adminisns. 
seems  to  be  the  order  of  the  day1  - 

2  Archibald   Henderson,   of   Salisbury,    Representative  of  his  district  in 
Congress.     A  Federalist,  like  Grove,  Henderson  also  lost  liis  seat  in   1803. 

3  The  government  took  op  its  permanent  residence  at  Washington,   the 
new  Capital,  June  15,  1800. 

1  The  new  Republican  Administration,  supported  by  Congress,  set  itself 


88  James  Spirant.  Historical  Publications 

On  the  arrival  of  the  French  troops  at  St  Domingo  the  Blacks' 
resisted  their  landing,  &  hurnt  &  massacred  all  before  them  —  the 
scene  must  have  bpen  dredful  - 

It  is  feared  here,  that  part  of  the  French  forces  are  intended  for 
New  Orleans,  as  tis  believed  the  Spaniards  have  ceeded  that  coun- 
try to  Buonaparte3  -  this  apprehension  gives  us  some  uneasiness,  for 
all  Parties  seem  to  prefer,  the  indolent  Aristocrats  Don*  for  Neigh- 
bors, to  the  Ambitious  and  turbulent  Monsieur 8,  notwithstanding 
their  high  pretensions  to  Liberty  &  Republicanism. 

I  have  reed,  from  Mr  Hooper4  your  Power  of  atty  to  transfer  your 
Funded  Stock  to  him,  &  the  Dividends  due  from  Jany  1800  -  but 
tho'  the  power  is  sufficient  to  transfer  the  Stock  tis  not  sufficient  to 
receive  the  Dividends  standing  in  your  name  —  As  Mr  H.  wishes 
the  Stock  sold,  and  the  Dividends  received,  I  take  the  liberty  to 
request  you  to  forward  me  by  first  Post,  a  power  to  draw  &  receive 
the  same,  in  the  same  form,  as  those  you  heretofore  sent  me,  to 
the  end  I  may  comply  with  Mr  Hoopers  request  -I  have  dropped 
Mr  H.  a  line  informing  him  of  the  defect  in  the  old  power  in 
regard  to  receiving  the  Dividends  standing  in  your  name  - 

1  hope  to  get  away  from  this  place  about  the  middle  of  April, 
tho'  I  suspect  Congress  will  not  rise  before  the  1st.  May- 

Mrs  Grove  is  pretty  well,  &  desires  me  to  send   her  respects  to 
you,  &  Complems.  to  you  and  your  Household  - 
With  real  regard 

I  am   . 
Dear  Sir 

yr  Humb  Ser. 

W.  B.  Grove 

the  task  of  repealing  much  of  the  objectionable  Federalist  legislation  effected 
in  its  last  years  and  months  of  power;  among  these  were  the  Alien  and  Sedi- 
tion Acts,  the  "Mid-night"  Judiciary  Act,  etc. 

2  The  Island  of  Hayti  was  at  this  date  in  rebellion  against  French  authori- 
ty, the  blacks  being  led  by  the  famous  Toussaint  L'Ouverture. 

8  Tins  supposition  was  correct,  the  transfer  having  been  made  in  the 
treaty  of  iSan  Ildefonso  in  the  year  1800.  All  America  was  stirred  by  the 
transfer,  fear  not  being  allayed  until  the  territory  was  purchased  from  France 
in  1803. 

4  Very  probably  Thomas  Hooper,  lawyer,  of  Hillsboro,  son  of  "Win. 
Hooper,  signer  of  the  Declara/ion  of  Independence. 


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